


Power Rangers: Grid War

by BatmanPrime



Category: Power Rangers
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23387968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatmanPrime/pseuds/BatmanPrime
Summary: A retelling of the global phenomenon that combines over thirty years of Power Rangers and Super Sentai lore with real life themes and a more mature approach. Power Rangers has always been based on the previously filmed footage from the Super Sentai series and thus limited plots and themes that the stories could take on. This retelling answers many "what if" type scenario questions.
Kudos: 1





	1. Preface: From the Future

**From the Future to the Past**

Sparks rained down in the dimly lit and damaged Command Center as explosions outside rocked its walls. These were the last days. Lord Drakkon’s forces had decimated the planet and extinguished humanity altogether. His vengeance knew no bounds and the very Earth split apart because of it. Huddled inside this final stronghold were the last two living Power Rangers and as they and Zordon scrambled to carry out their desperate plan, Drakkon’s forces carved through the Command Center defenses to get to them.

A tall grizzled man with receding hair and a full, greying beard stood next to a concerned, dark haired woman before Zordon’s energy tube. “Is this going to work?” she asked quietly while soothing the tiny baby she had wrapped in an emerald colored blanket.

“It has to,” replied the man. “He is our only hope now. Zordon, are we ready?”

Zordon, the Eltar, an ancient blue skinned species, alien to Earth, but one that had lived here for longer than the human race had been alive. His body was destroyed centuries ago in the war with the evil Rita Repulsa, and now his essence was confined to the Morphing Grid and his only contact to the outside world was through a specialized energy tube created by his friend and servant, Alpha 5, a sentient android.

Alpha 5, whilst normally a five foot tall, tottering robot with a jovial yet metallic voice and cheery disposition, had now deployed his rarely used combat mode and was currently holding Drakkon’s forces from entering the Command Center as Zordon enacted his plan. Though he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

“All is ready,” Zordon replied. “Once you destroy the energy tube there will be a brief implosion before the energy wave explodes out. You will have to place the baby in the center of the aperture where I will be able to transport him through time during the collapse. We will only have mere seconds and one chance at this.”

The woman kissed her baby. “Then let’s not waste time. Alpha can’t last much longer.”

As if on cue, the far wall of the Command Center exploded inward and a large, spindly robot covered in spent and smoking canons was flung to the floor with the debris. It’s saucer like head disconnected from its body when it landed and rolled to the man’s feet. Its edge was rimmed in lights that flickered and a broken voice stuttered out, “I…I have failed…in…keeping him…out. I’m…sorry…aye..yi…y…”. Its voice trailed off as it powered down.

“Thank you, old friend,” the man said then he then turned to his wife, “I’ll buy you as much time as I can. Hurry!” He kissed his child and embraced the woman one last time. Then after a farewell kiss he turned and leapt over the remains of the terminal and landed near the opening in the wall, fully morphed.

His Ranger form was unlike any ever seen as it was one of his own creation, a combination of several Ranger powers compiled from morphers rescued from Drakkon’s grasp. His boots were black, instead of the typical white, and the heel and toe were plated in a golden metal. A gold stripe ran over the foot and up his shin to the top of the tall boots that ended in golden knee pads. The upper leg and body of the suit were navy blue and the Dino Buckler was held about his waist with a black belt. His gauntlets were also black with gilt knuckles and, similar to the boots, a stripe ran to the gold elbow pads. His shoulders, chest, and upper back were armored with the gilded shield of the Zeo Gold Ranger whose trappings also covered his ribs with its crisscrossed armaments. His helmet was navy blue with a light blue visor and an aureate mouth guard instead of the usual molded lips. The top of the helmet was fashioned after the Triceratops but with gold horns that swept forward and away from the helmet instead of being flush against it, adding one more weapon at his disposal.

Fashioned to his left arm he held a blue, triangular shield nearly as tall as he was that was also fashioned after the head of a Triceratops with auric horns. The crest tilted slightly away from him and allowed the two larger horns to protrude outward. The single horn pointed straight down adding an offensive weapon to the defensive armor. In his right hand he carried a long staff tipped on one end with three triangular tines sharpened to blades and on the other was the three-barred crest of Triforia topped with the red orb that swirled with energy.

He poised waiting for the inevitable attack and he did not have to wait long. A powerful green blast filled the hole in the wall and struck the Tricera-shield dead center. The man braced himself for the attack but was still hurled backwards a few meters though he did successfully block the beam and remain on his feet. The blast subsided and a moment later the dark, intimidating silhouette of Lord Drakkon loomed in the opening.

He was tall and broad with a terrifying presence as he hovered several feet off the ground, his long black cape flickering behind him. He was an evil Ranger with a power corrupted from the Morphing Grid by forcefully combining several Ranger powers. His armor was black, accented in tarnished gold about his boots, belt, and gloves. His shoulders were also shielded but with ridged armor that crossed his chest like and X with a diamond shape in the center marked with his sigil of a black flame. His helmet was black with a gold face shield that grew past the red visor into backward swept horns on this brow. He spoke with a voice that rumbled like an earthquake and commanded terror from all who could hear it.

“Look at you,” Drakkon said in amusement. “Finally you see that the true power of the Grid comes from combining its parts, not that this new revelation or form will save you.”

“I don’t need it to save me; I just need it to kill you.” The Tricera-Ranger responded.

“HA!” Drakkon laughed in amusement. “Good luck.”

As the titans clashed, the woman moved behind Zordon’s energy tube so as not to be spotted by Drakkon. She gently placed the baby on the floor beside her and held out her left hand in front of her. Instantly a silver bladed, yellow handled dagger materialized in her hand pointing downward. She grasped it firm with both hands and held it away from her body and parallel to the ground. “Are you ready Zordon?” she asked and the old sage nodded. With a load “hi-yah” she swung the blade with all her might and pierced the translucent material of the energy tube. The blade began to glow as she cut through the barrier like a knife through butter. Once she had made a large enough hole the blade flashed out of existence and she quickly picked up the baby and kissed him one last time before pushing him through the opening in the tube. She could feel the force as the vacuum had started pulling inward for the imminent implosion.

Her task complete she stepped from behind the tube making herself fully visible to Drakkon whom now held the beaten Blue Ranger suspended off the ground by the throat. “It’s over Drakkon!” she shouted and flung the tattered poncho she was wearing from her shoulders revealing her own Power Armor. Her suit was yellow, accented in black on her boots, belt, and battle claw gauntlets, that had been fused with claw boosters so that three short, bladed claws extended out over the knuckles while a silver bladed, yellow dagger appeared in each hand in a flash of light. Her neck and chest were encircled by the gold collar of the Zeo Rangers and her upper arms were each adorned with a small shield branded with the face of the saber-toothed tiger. Her helmet materialized over her head as she strode forward and was also yellow and fashioned after the prehistoric tiger with a black visor and mouth guard.

“Yes,” Drakkon answered her. “It is indeed over. Once I kill you and your dear husband here I can exterminate the child and the human race will finally be extinct. Then it is only a matter of time before the planet itself collapses under its own weight. Can you feel it? I destroyed the core and marred the mantle. The earthquakes are the tectonic plates giving way and collapsing. Soon I will have obliterated this planet and everything on it.”

“You’ll never see it happen,” she remarked coolly. “Our son will stop you before you even amass this power you now possess.”

Drakkon dropped his victim to the floor and angrily yelled at the Yellow Ranger, “What have you done?! WHERE IS THE CHILD?!”

“Where you can’t get him,” she chided.

Drakkon yelled in a fit of rage and shot an energy blast from his hand at the woman. She nimbly dodged out of the way allowing the blast to strike full on Zordon’s energy tube shattering it. There was a millisecond of silence as the world froze in time followed by Zordon’s voice calmly stating, “It is done.” Then the remains of the tube exploded in a brilliant blue light that filled the Command Center before bursting out across the entire planet and into the cosmos.

**Some time earlier, 17 years before invasion day**

The Command Center was peaceful and serene. Alpha Five busied himself at the terminal monitoring the many activities around the world and keeping an ever vigilante watch on the whereabouts of the Nemesis planet. Zordon, in his energy tube, had gone quiet. He felt a distant pulling from the Grid and was meditating on the source when suddenly a realization hit him. “Alpha!” he cried out.

“Aye-yi-yi!” exclaimed the little robot, startled. “What is it Zordon?”

“I am being contacted from someone inside the Morphing Grid. It is an urgent message.”

“Who could be contacting you from inside the Grid?”

“It is from…me?” Zordon said confused then realized what the message was. “Indeed. It is a message from my future self.”

“What kind of message, Zordon?” squeaked the little robot.

“A warning,” Zordon replied grimly. “Alpha, I am sending something back to myself. Something that can save us from the calamity that will befall our future should we not act to prevent it. Prepare a transfer from the time stream inside the Grid.”

“Ready Zordon,” Alpha acknowledged from a different control panel on the terminal he had rushed over to. “Materializing now.”

In a flash of green light, the infant materialized on a flat surface of the computer terminal. Alpha had successfully plucked him out of the time stream. The baby began to cry, and Alpha gently picked him up and rocked him gingerly. “Zordon,” he exclaimed. “It’s a baby?”

“Not just a baby, my dear Alpha, but a child to change the future.”


	2. When the Earth Had Two Moons

**Ten Days Before Invasion Day**

Commander Nancy Cooper steadied the controls of the space shuttle as her and her crew began their descent to the planetoid below them. She piloted the Astro, a one-of-a-kind space shuttle built by the civilian paramilitary science branch known as NASADA that specialized in extraterrestrial reconnaissance, exploration, and study. Nicknamed the Mega Shuttle, due to its size and payload, it was created by Dr. Katherine Manx, an engineer and physicist at NASADA who based the design on the previous Space Shuttle, Orbiter, with some obvious alterations. The Mega Shuttle, though strikingly similar in appearance, was wider than its predecessor, and sported a white and blue color scheme as opposed to the traditional white and black. More technically, it had broader, wider wings and was equipped with vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) technology so that the shuttle could take off without a launchpad as well as containing a plethora of specialized equipment constructed for one specific mission: to land on and study the mysterious roaming planetoid that scientists at NASADA had named the Nemesis.

Several years prior, astronomers at NASA first noticed the small ovular planetoid as it roamed through our solar system. The object was roughly a third the size of the Earth’s moon and was not an asteroid or a comet due to its spherical appearance and size. The object rotated on its axis of approximately thirty-five degrees and moved freely through the solar system somehow undeterred by the gravitational forces of the other planets. Its exact composition was unknown but was perceived to be rocky with visible darkly colored striations separating yellow-orange plate-like land masses. So far, water had not been detected on the mass but it did seem to have a thin atmosphere which lent to the probability of moisture being possible, if not present.

As the object moved unhindered through the solar system, NASA hypothesized that it would pass close enough to Earth to be visible in the night sky with amateur telescopes but not so close to effectuate a Nibiru Cataclysm, an end of the world scenario akin to the extinction of the dinosaurs by an asteroid. When the object had travelled within a decade of reaching Earth’s vicinity, NASADA was called in to oversee physical missions to the planet which would include satellites, probes, and unmanned rovers. NASA, however, was either incorrect in their calculations or an unforeseen force acted upon the planet and changed its hypothesized trajectory. While there was still no danger of collision, the rogue planet passed much closer than expected placing itself between the Earth and the moon. Here it became entangled in Earth’s gravity and made itself a semi-permanent fixture. By this time NASADA had named the rogue planet the Nemesis and already made several successful unmanned trips to the planet’s atmosphere and surface but now with the object being so close there was a scramble to engineer a craft to land astronauts on the ground. After months of planning and construction, the Astro was launched and was now making its final approach to the mysterious planetoid.

“Ten minutes to touchdown,” Cooper said over the intercom. “You should have your suits on and be buckling in.” Since she wasn’t going on the spacewalk herself, her spacesuit consisted of much more streamlined attire and a smaller helmet to allow her more freedom of movement in piloting the shuttle. She navigated the craft with the precision of a seasoned pro despite her younger age. Grace Sterling said of her that she was the best aero-space pilot on the planet and she was definitely living up to that moniker today as she nimbly lowered the experimental space vessel toward the surface.

Grace Sterling, who had been seated next to Cooper in the cockpit, unbuckled and floated back to the cargo hold where the other astronauts were preparing for their voyage. She too was dressed in a smaller suit and as she approached the hold she removed her helmet to better converse with the crew. Grace was a mature woman with long silver hair and seasoned eyes. She was a woman of science and technology and had, with the help of an unnamed benefactor, created an impressive think tank called Prometheus that was constantly on the cutting edge of technology. It was because of this and her previous military background that she was approached with signing a joint venture between the military and the private sector to further NASA’s physical presence in space. Thus, NASADA was created. She had already amassed the world’s leading scientific minds at Prometheus and she used this pull to outfit NASADA with the same level of human excellence. She accompanied her finest colleagues on this trip not out of necessity but out of desire. This crew was comprised of the experts in their respective fields, her presence was not needed, but she had an alternate agenda for this mission. One that neither NASADA nor NASA was aware of. As she approached the cargo hold, she could hear the other astronauts talking.

Dr. Katherine Manx had already slipped into her space suit and was trying unsuccessfully to shove a wad of her curly brown hair into the head cap before putting on her space helmet. She was a petite woman, though you couldn’t tell in the bulky space suit, and despite her young appearance she had already accomplished several master’s degrees in engineering and doctorates in physics. She was, for all intents and purposes, a genius and one of NASADA’s best and brightest, which is why she was put in charge of building the Astro Mega Shuttle in the first place and also why she was on this mission. Her role was to support the crew with any technical and equipment related duties. While she was struggling to get the curl under her cap Dr. Anton Mercer quipped grimly, “You do realize that if you trimmed that nap of hair on your head you wouldn’t have such trouble getting in your space suit?” Mercer was a tall, clean cut, and very serious man. “Doesn’t NASADA have hygiene regulations that you have to follow?”

“Relax, Anton,” she cut back. “You might actually have some fun on this mission if you do. Ha!” She exclaimed as she finally managed to get her rogue tresses under control.

Just then Grace floated into the room. “I prefer a more relaxed environment for my scientists, Anton, besides, the messy hair hides her cat ears so no one knows she is actually an alien,” Katherine shot her an evil look but Anton looked on unamused.

“If that was an attempt at humor then it was lost on me.” Anton snorted.

“I think all humor is lost on you, Mercer.” Grace chuckled. When he turned away Grace mouthed “Relax” at Katherine who just rolled her eyes. 

Colonel Aoki Toshikazu spoke up in the silence that followed. He had a thick Japanese accent but spoke plainly, “I think it is time to be serious. We are about to make history as the first humans to set foot on a wandering planet.” Aoki was the highest ranked among the team except for Grace. He had started his career years ago as a pilot in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and studied quantum physics. Upon retirement he was hired by NASA and eventually moved over to the NASADA branch shortly after its inception. This was to be his 10th and final space mission. “I suggest everyone buckle in.”

Grace assisted the astronauts into their helmets and put on hers. As they seated themselves in their harnesses, she gave them a final pep talk. “Alright everyone, you know why we are here. The samples we have already collected show that the surface of this planet contains the same minerals as Earth. We need to know why. Was this thing a part of our solar system at some point or is the universe truly made up of the same stuff everywhere? Our readings say that there is a thin atmosphere which does contain oxygen but that doesn’t mean you can do anything stupid like take off your helmets. This isn’t a science fiction movie. I want all of you back on this ship so be careful and watch out for each other. Cooper and I will be on the communication channel in your helmets. Good luck.” She waved to the crew and floated back to the cockpit where Cooper was making the final decent.

“Great timing,” she said. “Now I suggest you buckle up too.” Grace did so and the ship rumbled slightly as it broke through the atmosphere. A few adjustments and the ship was flying steadily over the alien terrain gradually descending toward the ground.

The landscape of the Nemesis was very Martian in appearance but with a yellowish hue rather than red. It seemed devoid of all life, flora and fauna, and appeared sandy between rocky outcroppings of various heights. Long but narrow fissures cut up the landscape seemingly encircling the globe in some places and many were so deep that their bottoms were eclipsed in shadow. “Careful,” Grace warned Cooper as the craft continued to descend. “Data shows that some of these cracks emit hot steam from pressurized vents. We don’t know how the shuttle will hand those.”

As if on cue, a torrent of yellowish steam blasted from one of the crevices a few kilometers away. The column was large enough to have easily engulfed the Astro and it rocketed a thousand meters or more into the air. “What the heck is beneath the surface of this place?” Cooper asked in disbelief.

“Nothing hospitable,” Grace said under her breath.

A few moments later and the Astro was circling the coordinates that were predetermined before they left. “Here we go everyone.” Cooper said over the comm and extended the landing gear. The shuttle, using is V/STOL technology, slowly but steadily hovered to the ground stirring up quite a bit of yellow dust. Cooper cut the engines and while the dust settled, Grace had intended to go check on the landing party but once she unbuckled her seatbelt something unexpected happened.

In the cargo hold, the three astronauts braced unnecessarily for impact. Cooper was too good a pilot and the Astro touched down on the surface lighter than a soft kiss. Aoki gave the all clear and the three of them began to detach from their harnesses. Kat was the quickest and as she slid out of her confines first she was also the first one to notice what none of them expected when she fell out of her seat and onto the floor. “What the…” she exclaimed as she hit.

“How very peculiar,” Mercer remarked as he slid to his feet. “This planet appears to have gravity in a much higher rate than we predicted.”

“Ya think?” Kat snapped sarcastically from the floor.

“I thought cats always landed on their feet,” chided Mercer with a smug look on his face.

“Did you just make a joke?” she responded in disbelief as Aoki helped her up then defended with, “The space suit is hindering my nimbleness.”

“Ms. Sterling?” Aoki spoke over the comm. “Are you experiencing this phenomenon in the cockpit?”

“You mean the sudden and uncalculated amount of heavy gravity this planet apparently has?” she responded sarcastically. “Yes, we are also experiencing it. Anyone have any ideas how our intel could have been this far off?”

“The density of the planet must be far greater than we calculated,” Anton offered. Most of our scans indicated that the core was hollow. It is possible that there is something down there that our equipment was unable to detect.”

“Like an undiscovered element, perhaps?” Aoki asked.

“An undiscovered something,” Kat said grimly.

“All the more reason for caution,” Grace said. “This could be a gravity well so don’t rely on it to stay this rate. Expect the unexpected out there. Stay close to the ship and take the sonic probe. See if you can get a better reading on the composition of the core.”

From the wall, Mercer grabbed a device that looked similar to a metal detector but with a sharp spike at the end instead of a ring. The sonic probe was a creation of Prometheus for this mission that generated primary, or P, waves that mimicked those of earthquakes and what scientists used to determine the structure of the Earth. The harmless, low frequency waves could be used to measure the composition of an object. Due to the small size of the Nemesis, the probe could potentially penetrate deep enough below the surface to gather enough information to estimate what the planetoid was comprised of.

Once the astronauts had all of their equipment, Aoki requested the exit ramp be deployed. With a slight shudder, a section of the floor near the back of the Astro began to lower forming a ramp to the surface. When is was completely extended, the crew began their descent with Colonel Toshikazu in the lead followed by Dr. Manx, and Dr. Mercer. As he stepped foot on the surface, Toshikazu made a brief speech. “The human race has journeyed beyond the confines of our planet, we have stepped foot on the surface of our moon, but today we shall stand on an object that has traversed the unknown universe beyond our solar system and made its way to us so that we may learn more about the cosmos.”

“That was a very eloquent speech, Toshikazu,” Grace commended.

On the ground the astronauts moved a few yards away from the shuttle and began their research. Mercer immediately started studying the ground and substrate. Since geology was one of his doctorates, his mission was to gather soil samples and study land composition. He depressed the sonic probe probe into the ground at various intervals as they explored the area around the Astro. The sound waves the probe emitted could be used to build a layout of the terrain and identify elements based on their sonic frequencies. Meanwhile Kat studied the atmosphere at ground level. She had with her a portable particle counter and a Geiger counter among other pieces of equipment and she was measuring the light composition, radiation levels, air composition, and a host of other things. “This place has an eerie sort of beauty to it,” she observed aloud. “The atmosphere is thin enough that you can see the stars like it was night.” The planet’s sky had a very odd composition. Due to the lessened atmosphere, directly above was like looking at the night sky, black and dotted with stars, but faded to blue closer to the horizon. There were no discernable clouds just the haze of the atmospheric elements that seemed more concentrated at lower altitudes, which is what gave the sky at the horizon its blue-green tint.

“The magnetism of this planet is inconsistent with our data,” Aoki postulated. “The magnetometer is giving increasingly erratic readings.”

“Well, we thought the planet had a hollow core,” Kat answered as she walked over to view Aoki’s equipment. “Without a rotating core the planet shouldn’t be able to generate a true magnetic field.”

“And yet it is,” Aoki said showing her the readings, “but now we know that there must be a core in order to generate this significant amount of gravity.”

“Unless whatever is down there is giving off its own magnetic field,” Mercer interjected joining the others.

“Is that possible?” Aoki asked.

“Anything is possible but whether or not it is probable, is the question.” Anton continued. “Observe the readings that I have been getting from the sonic probe. There is something solid down there but it is not spherical as one would expect. From the readings I’ve gathered it looks more…serpentine.”

“How could a planet form a serpentine core?” Aoki questioned.

“It couldn’t,” Kat interjected. “The planet was formed around the object. If it is giving off its own magnetic field then it’s likely that it whatever is down there accumulated this substrate over time as it drifted through space instead of spinning to generating gravity and pulling things to it like a typical planet.”

“So whatever is in the core is generating artificial gravity?” Aoki asked amazed.

“A warranted though outlandish theory. It would also seem that the planet has drifted through our solar system before.” Anton continued. “All of the elements I have tested are terrestrial to Earth except for the core. The sonic frequency it’s resonating doesn’t match any metal on the periodic table.”

“Too bad we can’t get a sample of it,” Aoki lamented.

“Perhaps we can.” Anton corrected. “It appears that these fissures open directly down to the core.”

“No one is going spelunking on this mission,” Grace interrupted over the comm link. “Even if you did have rappelling equipment, those fissures are spewing steam hot enough to vaporize your space suits with you in them.”

“No, I don’t think even Dr. Manx is crazy enough to attempt that.” Mercer quipped.

Dr. Kathrine Manx shot him an evil look.

“We won’t have to perform any perilous feats.” Mercer continued. “The structure actually winds close to the surface in multiple spots. The fissures appear to be cracks that lead to the lower most parts over hollow sections made by the winding structure of the core but it seems to nearly touch the surface near that rock formation there.” Mercer pointed to a large rocky cliff about one hundred meters tall and two hundred meters from where they stood.

“I don’t like it,” Grace spoke over the comm. “There could be lethal radiation from an alien metal.”

“Dr. Manx, are you reading any lethal amounts of radiation in the area?” Anton asked but Kat didn’t respond. “Dr. Manx!” Anton said louder.

“No…I’m not reading any lethal radiation,” she hesitantly said, “but that doesn’t mean that it is safe. It could be giving off energy that we are unable to detect.”

“I am going to investigate,” Mercer said plainly. “The risk is calculable enough for me,” and he started off in the direction he had indicated. Aoki followed.

A light flashed briefly inside Kat’s helmet followed by Grace’s voice. “Kat, I’ve put us on a private line,” she said.

“What about Cooper?” Kat asked.

“I’m not in the cockpit,” Grace replied. “I stormed out. Made a scene like I was pissed at Mercer.”

“Aren’t you though?”

“Yes,” said Grace plainly, “but that is beside the point. You know what is at stake here. He doesn’t. His hotheadedness may compromise the real reason we are here.”

“I’ll try to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid,” Kat assured.

“Just stay close to him,” said Grace.

Kat followed the other two to the cliff face.

The cliff was like any rocky structure found in any of the desert wastelands on Earth. It jutted vertically out of the ground like it had been pushed up from underneath and the sandy soil that made up the rest of the terrain gradually turned to rock at its foot. Smaller boulders littered the ground around it as well as rocks of various sizes. Aoki studied some of these smaller formations while Mercer used the probe to determine how far below them the core structure was.

“We didn’t bring any shovels,” Kat said, “so I don’t know how you plan on doing any digging.”

“I can at least ascertain how far below the surface this particular arm of the structure lies,” Mercer replied without looking at her. “I am actually hoping for a breach.”

While Mercer continued probing, Aoki took a moment to rest and leaned against a peculiarly cylindrical shaped boulder that rose about chest high out of the sand but once he had put his weight on it, the slab crumbled to dust beneath him. Both Kat and Anton heard his sudden grunt as he fell and turned to aid him. “I’m alright,” Aoki scoffed as the others helped him up. “I wasn’t prepared for the rocks on this planet to be so fragile.

“That would be because it was not a rock,” Mercer said astounded. As the dust settled, the meaning became clearer. The object that Aoki had leaned against was encrusted in the dust and sand of the planet disguising it as a rock. As the dust fell away an odd, alien structure was left in its place. The object was a little more than a meter in height and perfectly cylindrical. It was crafted from an unfamiliar metal that was rusty in color but smooth. There was a rim around the top like the brim of a hat and a raised section in the center that held a reddish orb. The top was ornate with concentric circular sections and decorated with shapes like stars and crescent moons.

“Does anyone else think that looks like a dumpster?” Kat said to break the silence.

“A trashcan, in space?” Aoki remarked.

Mercer just stared at it. The red orb on the top had him transfixed for some reason unknown to him. As he stared, he swore he could see a small light flicker in the depths of the ball. The other astronauts continued their conversation, but their voices seemed further and further away replaced by a low humming that grew louder in Mercer’s ears. When he could hear his colleagues no longer, a new voice sprang to life in his mind. A female voice. “Anton,” the voice was quiet, a whisper at first. “Anton,” it grew louder every time she spoke his name and increasingly alluring. A warmth swept over him and his vision began to darken, tunneling until all he could see was the faint flicker of red whenever he heard his name.

Anton

Anton

“ANTON!” It was Kat. She had apparently been screaming at him for some time without him noticing.

“Yes!” he replied startled from his trance. “What?” He was angered to be disturbed from whatever spell this thing had on him, but he didn’t know why.

“You spaced out. Are you alright?” Kat asked.

“I’m fine.” He barked.

“Good,” Aoki said. “Then it is time we returned to the ship.”

“What!” Anton was suddenly hysterical like he couldn’t control his emotions. “Why?”

“We need more equipment to study this, Aoki explained. “It is obviously alien in nature.”

“This is the find of a lifetime and you want to just leave it?” Anton said in disbelief. The words didn’t feel like his own. Like they were being suggested to him.

“Not leave it; retrieve better equipment to study it.”

“Or we could just open it now,” Anton said.

“What do you mean open it?” Kat asked. “We don’t know what this is let alone if it opens.”

“You said it looked like a dumpster,” Anton argued. “There is an obvious seam and a lid. I bet that flickering red orb on top opens it.”

“Flickering?” Aoki asked confused. “I didn’t see any light coming from it. Kat, did you?”

“No,” she replied dryly.

“It doesn’t matter,” Mercer snapped.

“Let’s say it does open,” Kat hypothesized. “We could be unleashing some new virus or bacteria into the atmosphere. There is no telling what could be in there!”

Aoki turned to Kat in confusion. “Do you recognize this apparatus?”

“What? No!” Kat said almost too convincingly. “I’m just being precautious. I don’t want to be the one who unleashes a plague on humanity.”

“You are being dramatic,” Mercer accused, “and taking this too seriously.”

“Strange words coming from you Mr. Serious,” Kat defended.

“Everyone calm down,” Aoki said softly holding up his hands to diffuse the situation. “There is no need for us to be fighting. Now,” he continued and stepped toward the alien dumpster, “let’s just open the vessel and then return to the ship…” Aoki paused and put his hand up to his space helmet, a gesture like one holding his head. “Why did I just say that?” He questioned aloud and confused.

Kat had heard enough. She leapt between the men and the alien object and produced a strange piece of equipment that she brandished at her fellow astronauts like it was a weapon. It was an odd device with a handle grip and a small square on the top that served as the controller. From the bottom was a large oval plate that covered her forearm. There was a protrusion toward the top and below it was a circle that contained a powerful flashlight. The script ‘S.P.D.’ was printed vertically in bold, black letters down the remaining part of the plate. She held the device in her right hand with her fist pointing upward and her forearm and the plate pointed at the men. She used her left hand to support her other elbow. “Grace!” She spoke over the comm link. “The men have been compromised. We have a situation.”

“What is that?” Mercer asked amused.

“It has many functions,” Kat explained, “but right now it is a gun and I will use it if either one of you come any closer to me or this thing behind me. “

“Let’s all just calm down,” Grace said over the link. “There is no need to lose our cool.”

“A gun?” Mercer chided. “It looks like a toy.”

In response Kat used her thumb to toggle one of the inputs on the square apparatus. Then she pointed the device at a rock to her left and squeezed the trigger mechanism. A laser beam shot out from the protrusion on the top of the plate and reduced the mass to rubble in a small explosion. “Satisfied?” She smirked.

“Deftly,” said Mercer dryly.

Aoki wobbled forward and back for a moment, like he was unsure if he wanted to take a step, or possibly fighting the urge to walk. After another moment he seemed to decide, or give up struggling, held up his hands and slowly walked toward Kat. “Dr. Manx,” he said coolly, “There is no need for violence.”

“Colonel,” Kat warned, aiming the blaster at him. “Please don’t make me shoot you.”

“There will be no need for that,” he said but still walked forward. “We can all just go back to the ship and…” but he didn’t finish his sentence. He leapt at Kat attempting to grab her but she was quicker than he perceived her to be. In an instant she flicked the toggle with her thumb and fired the device. This time however, instead of the laser, a blue static lightening discharged from the gun and engulfed Colonel Toshikazu. He stiffened then crumpled to the ground, stunned but unharmed.

Unfortunately, that was not the end of it. In the second that it took to stun Colonel Toshikazu, Mercer had also rushed Kat. She did not have time to fend them both off and as she turned the gun to Anton, he grabbed her arm and wrest it from her grip. He then flung the weapon several yards away and pushed Kat to the ground. “Mercer, stop!” She pleaded. “You don’t know what is in there.”

“Oh, but I do,” he said in a voice that was not entirely his own. “She calls to me.” Anton Mercer reached for the now definitively glowing red orb. Small, crimson lightening bolts flickered out to greet his hand and pulled him forward with a jerk, sealing his fingers to the ball. Then the little flicks of red electricity licked out from the sphere and his hand as the very ground shook. The lid atop the cylinder began to rotate counter-clockwise as dust and debris fell from the seam. Then everything stopped. The container didn’t open and the ground ceased its rumbling. Dr. Manx stood and slowly backed away from Anton and the object. For a moment all was quiet, then suddenly Mercer was catapulted backwards by an electrical explosion. The container shuttered and slowly sank into the ground. A few meters behind them the cliff face rumbled and a portion of the rock wall crumbled away revealing a large metal panel made of the same material as the space dumpster. The wall then shifted and receded slightly before sliding open revealing a dark passageway.

Anton got to his feet and stumbled toward the opening almost zombie like. Kat sprinted to retrieve her SPD blaster. “Grace?” She shouted frantically.

“I’m seeing all of it,” she reassured her. “We are monitoring Anton’s vitals through his suit as well. His readings are all over the place.”

“What the Hell is going on?” came Cooper’s voice from the background. She had removed her helmet and was peering through the shuttle’s windshield.

“What do I do Grace?” Kat asked as she started after Mercer.

“Stun him.” Came the reply. Kat leveled the blaster and fired a shot at Mercer but he didn’t fall like Aoki did. The blast only stopped him for a second then he stumbled forward and continued his stroll like he was being involuntarily pulled forward. Kat fired again but it had the same result, so she fired a third time yet still he trudged on.

“Cease fire,” Grace commanded. “We are just going to fry his nervous system this way. I don’t think he has control over his body or even his mind at this point.”

Kat rushed forward and tried to physically stop Mercer from walking but to no avail. He seemed stronger than normal and pushed Kat aside like she was nothing. She grabbed his arm and planted her feet but he just dragged her on. As they reached the mouth of the passage a loud whir and a strong gale blew suddenly and angrily from the dark depths. It had no affect on Anton, but it threw Manx from him back outside.

“What do we do?” Kat asked.

“Stay with him but keep your distance,” Grace replied. “I’m going to make a call.”

“Do you want me to establish a connection with ground at NASADA?” Cooper asked Grace.

“No,” Grace replied. “I’m going to call someone with a little more knowledge of what we are dealing with.” She placed her hand on the bare surface on a black section of the control panel in front of her. Immediately it lit up like it was scanning her and somehow did so through the glove of her spacesuit.

“Greetings, Dr. Sterling,” came a disembodied, female voice. “I ascertain that by activating my external systems that there is an urgent situation. Would you like to establish a communication link to the Command Center?”

“Yes, DECA.” Grace acknowledged.

“Seriously,” Nancy Cooper asked uneasily, “what the Hell is going on?”

“You are about to be privy to highly classified information in Prometheus, Ms. Cooper.” Grace explained calmly. “I will debrief you later. For now, welcome to the Resistance.”

**In the Depths of the Serpent**

Kat crept back to the entrance of the tunnel but was not greeted by any defenses this time. She stepped inside and noticed that it was not as dark as it had been before. Recessed lighting on the walls ran down either side of the tunnel like racing stripes giving the hallway an eerie yellowish glow. She placed her hand on the wall, noting the metal was not of Earth, and saw that it was made of interlocking metal plates, like the scales of a giant reptile. She made her way down the corridor after Mercer taking care to stay roughly ten or more paces behind him and she kept her blaster at the ready. As the tunnel twisted and wound its way through what she knew was an alien craft she began to notice something strange about the hallway. It seemed to be one continuous tunnel with no doors or windows or even branching corridors, however, when they would turn a bend on the path she would notice that the walls suddenly looked faintly different. The scales would be a different size than before or the color would change suddenly to a different shade of dark green. It was puzzling and intriguing at the same time.

A few moments later the hallway ended abruptly in a partly closed door that slid apart from the middle. Beyond the opening she could make out a dimly lit room with several large tubes standing vertical in the center. The cylinders were transparent and emitted a green, glowing light. Mercer hobbled into the room without stopping but Kat hung back and hid behind the partially closed door, peaking carefully around to spy into the chamber.

The room was large and circular with several control terminals lining the walls. The rest of the room was filled with the tubes she had seen before, arranged in clusters of fours with the glass doors facing out; some empty or broken. Had Mercer been in his right mind he probably would not have known what he was looking at, but Kat did; these were cryotubes for long periods of stasis. Anton made his way past the first set of containers deeper into the collection until he was in the center of the room standing before three tubes that were different than the others. Kat made her way forward taking care to keep hidden as she did. The cells that Mercer stopped in front of were slightly larger and roomier than their counterparts and were marked with gold inlays. This set also had an independent terminal and what appeared to be a monitor that sprang to life as Mercer touched the panel. The screen showed an alien language that could be reasonably assumed was vital signs and Kat realized to her horror that the things in these tubes were still alive.

Mercer tapped a sequence on the terminal and what sounded like a motor whirred to life amidst the cluster of cylinders and the tube in the center shook as it cracked open with a hiss of escaping gas. Green smoke billowed from inside and fell to the floor swirling like a low fog. From the glow and smoke emerged a woman, human in appearance, but with small yet distinct alien features and unearthly attire. She wore dark brown boots with gold trim and a long dress that stopped at her ankles and was also trimmed in gold and flaked with green. On her midsection was what appeared to be an armored corset and her forearms were covered with gold trimmed, emerald gauntlets. Her shoulders were also armored, and the collar of her dress rose up and away from her head detailed with spikes around its rim. Her hair was presumably very long and was fashioned above her head, braided in the shape of two horns. It was the color of purest white and wrapped through the braids were strips of brown leather. She had a medium frame and her posture was that of royalty. Her eyes burned red and her face, though mostly human, had slight ridges on her brow, around her cheeks and on the side of her face that were tinged with a golden color. The rest of her skin was a pale grey, almost white like her hair. She was beautiful yet somehow horrible all at the same time. As she gathered herself her thin lips curled in an evil smile that seemed too wide for her face and partially revealed a mouth full of pointed teeth. When she spoke her voice was shrill and somewhat raspy and came in a language that Mercer had never heard before but one that Kat Manx was vaguely familiar with. “< _After 10,000 years, I’m free >_,” she squealed as she stepped out of the cryotube.

Without another word she stretched out her left hand to her side and a golden staff materialized in it. The staff was topped with a spiked, crescent moon shape that held a circular, glowing green gem in its center. Rita gazed at Dr. Mercer who was still standing transfixed in a daze. < _My newly-acquired servant_ >, she said in her alien tongue. < _So full of loss and hurting. You were so easy to gain control of >_. The gem in Rita’s staff flashed green and so did Mercer’s eyes signifying that he was completely under her spell. < _But what manner of creature are you? You look human, but surely humans haven’t settled in this remote section of the galaxy._ > She pondered aloud. With a wave of her staff, Mercer was lifted off his feet and his space suit shattered into thousands of pieces like it was made of glass, exploding away from him. A moment later he was gasping for air in the oxygen deficient atmosphere of the ship. He clutched at his throat and fell to his knees as she dropped him back to the floor. Rita reached out a clawed hand and grasped his forehead. It was pale grey, like her face, and the veins that sprawled down to her fingers were tinted gold. Mercer’s eyes immediately rolled back into his head at her touch and he stopped breathing all together. Her staff lit up green again and she closed her eyes for a moment of concentration. She was reading his mind. < _You are human >,_ she said to herself, amused. < _It seems that backwater cesspool of a planet managed to attract or evolve some intelligent life since I’ve been entombed_ >. She laughed to herself. < _Well whatever you are you are useless to me if you suffocate so easily. Let’s transform you into something more durable_ >. She released his forehead and lifted her hand upwards like she was lifting an invisible object. In response, Mercer was snatched off his feet like something had grabbed him by the chest and pulled him straight up into the air. He hung there, feet dangling inches from the floor, his head was bent backwards, mouth open, and his arms lay loose by his side. The witch chanted something indiscernible and raised her staff with a now brightly glowing green disk. Then in one motion she closed her fist and slammed the tip of the staff on the ground. Green sparks and licks of green flame shot out from where it struck and raced in a line to Mercer. The flames leapt up and engulfed him in a tongue of emerald fire. He let out a blood-curdling scream and grabbed his face in pain then fell limply to the floor in a fetal position. The flames smoldered themselves out and he lay there twitching.

Rita leaned over the corpse-like Mercer and babbled to him. < _I once, long ago, had a loyal and powerful servant named Mesogog. He was quite cruel and demonic and served me well until the day he failed me, and to fail me means death. But I could not bear to destroy such a strong warrior outright when I knew he could still be of use. So instead I vaporized his body and imprisoned his essence until a time that I would find redemption for him._ > She rose and cackled at her own ingenious maliciousness then pointed her staff at the body and hoisted it up and into a nearby vacant cryotube. < _Now, I have infused him into you, human. He will transform your body into his image, imbibe you with his strength and wickedness. Then you shall be worthy of being my servant._ > She cackled again and turned away as the tube door lowered and clicked closed with a hiss. Turning her attention to the control panel that Mercer used to release her, she pressed a series of buttons. The two tubes that were on either side of her’s depressurized and creaked open. From the larger tube on her right emerged what looked like a knight in golden armor. He was enormous, with broad shoulders, approaching seven feet in height and his boots and gauntlets were clawed. His helm sported a ridge and was without a face mask revealing not the face of a man but the black fur and skin of an ape-like creature with long incisors and red eyes.

From the second tube came a creature quite the opposite of the golden clad warrior. He was short, maybe five feet tall, and wore plain, baggy tan and blue clothing. He had a light blue apron with various sculpting tools stuffed in the pouches and it hung down almost to the tops of his curly toed shoes. His body was covered with short white fur except for the hair on his head which was longer and bound almost like dreadlocks but pulled away from his face and held back by a blue bandana he wore just above his forehead. His nose and mouth formed a snout that was covered with longer white fur that resembled a beard and mustache. This, with the presence of coal black eyes, gave him the appearance of an anthropomorphic West Highland Terrier, minus the black nose, wearing round rimmed glasses hooked over tall, pointed ears.

Both creatures took a moment to acclimate from their long cryosleep but once they had and saw Rita standing before them they immediately bowed in the manner of their people. Goldar, the warrior, dropped to one knee bowing his head low. “My Empress,” he growled in a deep gravelly voice, “I am pleased to see you awake.”

The other creature, Finster, was a craftsman and not a warrior. His people were skilled artists who made beautiful and intricate things with their hands. In his people’s tradition he clicked his heels together, folded his arms in front of him, and bowed low at the waist. “My Empress,” he said in a higher, squeakier voice.

“We have been asleep for 10,000 years,” Rita jeered at her minions, “thanks to that fool Zordon. Now I will make the Council and this whole galaxy pay the price for my suffering,” but she suddenly stopped her posturing. By this time, Kat had seen enough and was skulking her way back to the corridor but as she made her way down the hallway she noticed again the changes in the walls. As she rounded the next curve she was surprised to see that she was back in front of the door to the cryo-room. Quickly she turned around and headed back only to see the walls change again and come right back to the same door. In horror, she suddenly realized what was happening. She had seen this technology before when she was an SPD cadet on planet Sirius before it fell. Unlike traditional buildings, the layout of the rooms on this craft were fluid, meaning that instead of moving from one room to an adjacent one, a person could be instantly transmitted to another part of the ship. This technology allowed large ships and bases to be easily traversed without the need of elevators, moving platforms, or indoor vehicles and usually applied little to no stress on the traveler. The technology was fascinating and by no means widespread but here and now it was terrifying to Kat because it meant that someone knew she was here and had no intention of letting her escape.

“Grace?” Kat spoke softly in her helmet. “If you can still hear me get out of here. Rita has escaped. Mercer is dead and she knows I’m here so likely I will be too soon. We can’t risk letting her get off this planet. It was a pleasure working w…” Her voice cut off like someone had grabbed her by the throat. She then felt herself being lifted off the floor and snapped backwards as if she was attached to some sort of elastic band. She flew back through the doorway and was spun around halting suddenly in midair barely a foot away from Rita’s outstretched hand. Rita closed her fist like she was strangling Katherine and she could feel invisible fingers clutching her neck. < _Did you think I didn’t notice you spying?_ > Rita cackled. Katherine clutched at her throat and kicked her legs, but Rita’s magical grasp was too strong. < _Don’t struggle,_ > she said aggravated, < _it’s pointless._ >

Rita waved her staff and Katherine’s spacesuit shattered like Mercer’s did. Then she dropped her arm and Kat fell to the floor gasping for air. Her long curls tangled around her face and she spit at Rita’s feet. “Witch!” she cried out.

< _I prefer Bandora,_ > Rita sneered and with a flick of her wrist Kat was knocked over onto her back. “How very interesting,” Rita spoke in English now, having absorbed the knowledge from Anton. “You don’t seem to have as much trouble breathing as your colleague here.” Rita outstretched her hand and Katherine was pulled by her face towards her. Rita caught her by the forehead and read her mind like she did with Mercer. “Oh I see,” Rita sneered, “you’re a Manx! Yet the other one thinks you are a human. Why such a ruse?” She flicked her wrist and the tangled curls on Katherine’s head swept backward revealing her ears. They were not human but longer and more cat looking, and they were higher up on her head than should be. Rita continued to pry into Kathrine’s mind. “Oh I see, these humans think they are alone in the universe. How primitive,” she sneered. “I must show them how wrong they are.”

Then Rita’s face contorted and she violently threw Katherine across the room. “No!” Anger filled her face at what she saw in the Manx’s mind and her drab skin blushed red with hatred. “How is Zordon still alive?” she screamed and green lightning bolts arced from her staff. “That annoying old sage just refuses to die! Goldar!” she screamed.

The golden warrior stood to his feet and approached the space witch. “Yes, my Empress?” he snarled.

“There is a man lying stunned outside of the forward port exit. I believe he has vital Information about the military capabilities of the planet Zordon is hiding on. Go and fetch him.”

“Yes, my Empress,” Goldar sneered. He rose to his feet and with two long strides he darted past Rita before unfurling two giant black wings. With one down sweep, he rocketed down the hallway to retrieve Colonel Aoki Toshikazu.

“Finster!” Rita continued.

“Yes, my Empress?” the craftsman squeaked and rose to his feet.

“I need monsters, lots of monsters, and foot soldiers. As soon as possible,” she demanded.

Finster pondered, “I should be able to produce six or more generals in a couple days time if you are wanting quantity over quality but I must warn you they would not be at full strength.”

“That’s fine,” she growled. “I merely want to test this planet’s defenses.”

“There are also several of your generals that were imprisoned with us. I took the liberty of placing them in cryostasis once I had you stabilized after that last battle.”

Rita shot Finster a scowl to which he receded from then cut her eyes to the other pods. “Good,” she said and Finster sighed in relief. “I will peruse the inventory.” Finster made a few keystrokes on the terminal as Rita began walking the pods. The names of the entombed flashed on the displays. “This one,” she said stopping in front of one of the larger tubes. “Sphinx will prove ideal for this first assault. Make him five generals and a legion of Putties,” she said to Finster.

“Right away my Empress,” he said with a bow followed by, “I take it we are preparing to destroy Zordon outright?” Finster asked but Rita did not respond immediately.

One of the cryotubes had transfixed her attention; the one directly behind hers in the cluster. She placed her hand on the glass and peered longingly at the blurry silhouette on the other side. Glittering liquid welled up in her eyes and a single gilded tear ran down her cheek but the sorrow on her face soon contorted into one of scorn. “No,” Rita seethed, “not immediately. I want him to suffer for as long as possible. First we will destroy something he cares about deeply. It’s time to conquer Earth.”


	3. The Beginning

The city of Angel Grove, in beautiful southern California, was a diverse metropolis in every aspect from business, to population, to geography, and even had a rich past dating back to before the Gold Rush in early American History. Located in Harwood County, about two hours south of Los Angeles, the area was just far enough removed from the bigger city to be a quiet, quaint place to live but not so small that it precluded a thriving industry in many areas of business.

Downtown Angel Grove was the official city center where a handful of skyscrapers towered over several smaller buildings that housed a plethora of national and international businesses. Many of the nation’s top brands held offices here, as well as various startup tech companies, all taking advantage of the thriving local economy and lower tax rates than any other part of the state. Due to such a flourishing economic standing, Angel Grove also boasted the lowest unemployment rates in the state along with the lowest homeless population due to many philanthropic programs setup to help the less fortunate.

The suburbs surrounding the city ran the typical socio-economic gamut from upper class to lower middle class. The posh Silver Hills in the northwest part of the county was full of exquisite mansions and condos over-looking the Pacific Ocean and sported its own private seashore named Amber Beach. Further south was the larger, public beaches of Summer Cove and Ocean Bluff, the latter of which connected to Mariner Bay that housed a large seaport. Many of the oldest businesses in Angel Grove started in this seaport or heavily relied upon the shipping industry thus making use of the large natural bay. Here, a wide variety of ships from ocean liners to fishing boats constantly navigated the blue waters. With such a large fishing industry at its disposal, the town of Reefside grew to house the many fishermen and their families that called Angel Grove home. Like the other suburbs it had its own school district and township.

Continuing around to the southeast, the town of Briarwood lay amid the forested region of the county housing many of the middle-class families and most of the public schools. To the north of Briarwood was the smaller suburb, Boulder Cliff, that overlooked the desert to the east. Between the city center and Briarwood sat the county’s largest high school, Angel Grove High, where all the students from Briarwood, Boulder Cliff, and the downtown area attended, thus making it the largest and most diverse of the schools in the area. Today was the last day before summer break at Angel Grove High School and the students were all bristling with excitement for the long break ahead.

Billy Cranston switched out textbooks in his locker before the next period, his last class as a junior in high school despite being two years younger than his fellow classmates. His academic advancement was due to him being nothing short of a genius. In fact, Billy had tested out of high school altogether in several scholastic assessments and was already enrolled in and had completed multiple collegiate courses having earned several Bachelor’s degrees and a handful of Master’s. There were only two reasons that prevented him from graduating early, with the first being a deep need of social interaction with others closer to his own age. Billy suffered from a debilitating social anxiety and general awkwardness, a condition that stemmed from being diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. While his intellect was astronomical, he struggled to fit in socially with his peers often missing important social cues or saying awkward things unknowingly. Because of this, Billy needed to be around other high school kids instead of being thrust solely amongst the young adults at a college campus. His parents understood this and only allowed Billy to skip two grades and share classes with the few older kids he had befriended. The school board happily accepted this compromise since the Cranstons had a solid case to advance Billy out of public school altogether and the board wanted to keep such a stellar student in the school system for as long as they could.

The second reason was simply that Billy hid how smart his really was, a decision he made directly due to his social anxiety. Many of the other kids had called him a freak, or worse, for most of his life and Billy had started to believe them. He was constantly picked on at school and it weighed heavily on him, but Billy was quiet and kept mostly to himself so even his parents didn’t know the full extent of it. The bullying did become less as he got older, but it was still a problem for him. Two individuals in particular liked giving Billy a hard time and the last day of school would be no exception. As Billy reached for the book he needed from his locker the metal door slammed shut suddenly, almost closing his fingers in it. Billy didn’t look over at who shut his locker; he didn’t have to. It was the same two kids that always bothered him, Bulk and Skull.

“Hi-ya, Billy boy,” blurted Bulk. He was the ring leader of the two, an older boy, but still in the same grade as Billy, having failed a couple times. He was on the larger side in stature and wore his hair long, often in a pony tail.

“Yeah, Billy boy,” echoed Skull in his comical voice as he fell against the locker on the opposite side pinning Billy between them. “Hi-ya.” Skull was the lackey. He was tall and lanky, the antithesis of Bulk, and gave off the impression of an imbecile, though he was actually smarter than he acted. They both dressed the same, in clothes that were decades out of style and fashioned after a biker gang but from a Saturday morning kid’s show.

“Farkas, Eugene” Billy said acknowledging Bulk and Skull by their given names.

“Billy, Billy, Billy,” Bulk mocked. “I thought we covered what happens when you call us that?” Bulk said in fake disappointment and quickly slapped him on the back causing Billy to ram his forehead into his locker.

Skull laughed in his ridiculous cartoon manner. “Yeah Billy boy. Thought you would have learned by now.”

“Maybe he ain’t as smart as he thinks he is Skull,” continued Bulk. “Or maybe all these head injuries he keeps having are bruising his brain.” Bulk hit Billy again causing his head to hit the locker a second time. “You should really get these spasms checked out, Bill,” Bulk laughed but Skull winced slightly. The heckling and intimidation were one thing but, he didn’t care much for the physical abuse, despite his act. At least not against Billy, but he quickly repeated his comical laughter so no one would notice.

“HEY!” shouted a strong voice from behind them. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size, Bulk?” It was Jason Scott, all-star quarterback and Angel Grove’s sweetheart, as well as several other titles, including one of Billy’s only real friends.

“Oh look!” Bulk mocked as he faced Jason. “It’s the pretty boy. Shouldn’t you be practicing your ballet kicks somewhere?”

“Yeah, pretty boy!” Skull parroted as he stepped forward.

Bulk was referring to Jason’s martial arts training. Jason was a second-degree black belt in karate and had belts in several other fighting styles as well. He led the school in the number of trophies for martial arts competitions locally and nationally. Often Jason could be found practicing or teaching classes at the Angel Grove Youth Center after school and on the weekends.

Jason stepped uncomfortably close to Bulk and stared him directly in the face. He was lean and muscular, and tall enough that he could look the usually imposing bully straight in the eyes. Jason was one of the only students that wasn’t intimidated by the duo, knowing first hand that they were all talk and only had the nerve to pick on the weaker students. “Why don’t I practice on you?” he threatened getting in Bulk’s face initiating the standoff between two of the school’s strongest students, but neither had a chance to react to the other.

“Boys!” came a voice from behind them. It was Principal Caplan. When Jason shouted earlier, everyone in the area immediately formed a circle around the four students expecting a fight. This quickly caught the attention of other teachers and Mr. Caplan who was walking the halls nearby. “I had best be witnessing an impromptu study session here and not a fight about to break out.” Caplan was a tall, imposing man with a thick mustache and thinning salt and pepper hair. He usually dressed in a suit and tie with today being no exception despite it being the last day.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Caplan, sir,” Bulk said jovially. “We were just discussing Billy here getting headaches from all that studying.”

Skull cracked a smile but stifled a laugh. Jason backed away and faced Mr. Caplan. Billy just looked uncomfortably at the floor and adjusted his glasses.

“Seems like a rather heated discussion.” Caplan continued. Then to Bulk and Skull, “you two, off to class before I decide that I need to have a discussion with you as well…but in my office.”

“Yes, sir,” Bulk replied and gave a mocking salute. He shot a mean look at Jason then pushed Skull off down the hallway. “See ya, Billy boy,” he called over his shoulder and was immediately echoed by Skull.

“Are you alright, Mr. Cranston?” Caplan asked.

“Yes…yes, sir,” he replied sheepishly and fidgeted with his glasses again.

Caplan continued, “Just because it’s the last day of the school year doesn’t mean I’m not giving out detention. If those two were bullying you just say so and I will take care of it.”

“It’s okay, Mr. Caplan,” Billy assured him. “It won’t make much of a difference.”

“Alright then. Just know that you can come to me anytime,” Caplan encouraged then followed with. “Go on to class and tell Ms. Appleby that Mr. Scott and I are having a chat.”

“But Mr. Caplan…” Billy started but Caplan raised his hand to stop him.

“He’s not in trouble,” Caplan assured Billy.

“Yes, sir,” Billy said sheepishly once again. He grabbed the book he needed and went to class.

“Walk with me, Jason,” Caplan said in a more relaxed tone and led them outside to one of the shaded picnic tables where he sat down and motioned for Jason to join him, “Have a seat.”

Jason sat across from him and folded his arms. “Am I in trouble, sir?”

“No, no,” Caplan said, “but I do want to talk about this incident…and a few others that have a common theme.”

“Billy won’t stand up for himself, Mr. Caplan,” Jason defended. “He’s too non-confrontational, but it’s not good for him to just take the abuse like that.”

“And you feel it is your responsibility to do so for him?”

“Yes, sir,” he replied.

“And why is that?” Caplan inquired folding his hands. “Aside from the fact that you are friends.”

Jason paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before beginning his story. “When I was nine, I went to camp over the summer. There was a bully there that liked to pick on all the smaller kids. One in particular. That kid was a little different, so this bully and his friends often singled him out. Well, one day the bullying escalated and the boy got hurt, more than just his feelings.”

“So ever since,” Caplan interjected. “You’ve felt the need to stand up to bullies because you were bullied at Summer Camp?”

“No sir,” Jason said rather shamefully. “I was the bully in that story.”

“I see,” Caplan acknowledge.

“I’ve always been bigger and stronger than others my age,” Jason continued. “I realized early on that I could take advantage of that. I never intended to actually hurt anyone though and when I saw that kid sitting in the mud that I had pushed him in, crying from the split lip I gave him, I realized that I’d gone too far, that I let myself get out of control. I vowed then and there to not let that happen again; from me or anyone else.”

“So all of the training, the way you push yourself at everything you do, is all for atonement?” Caplan asked.

“Yes,” Jason replied bluntly. “That and to be ready when the time comes.”

“Ready for what, exactly?”

“Anything,” Jason said darkly.

“I see,” Caplan was frankly amazed. There was a lot of heart and dedication in Jason Lee Scott. “Do you ever talk to the boy you pushed at Summer Camp? Just out of curiosity.”

“Yes sir,” Jason said with a smile. “Billy became one of my closest friends. He has an enormous capacity to forgive.”

“That he does,” Caplan said with a smile. “Which leads me back to what I wanted to talk with you about. Jason, you are, in a manner of speaking, the champion for the weak here at Angel Grove and while that is indeed commendable, I think you may be going about it the wrong way.”

“How so?” Jason asked.

“Well,” Caplan continued. “Being imposing and using your physical prowess to effectually scare the other bullies into submission is honestly still bullying in its own way.”

“So, all I am doing is bullying the bullies?” Jason asked.

“As noble as it seems, yes. Your tactic may be effective, but I think there are more diplomatic approaches that you could take.”

“I’ve found that most bullies only listen to their own tactics,” Jason said dryly. “If asking them politely to stop picking on others worked then there wouldn’t be as many tormenters.”

“I am not so naïve to think that every person in this world can be reasoned with peacefully.” Caplan explained. “There are evils that will only respond to violence. However, Farkas Bulkmeier and Eugene Skullovitch are not among them.”

“What would you suggest?” Jason sincerely asked.

“Without me giving out personal details,” said Caplan. “consider why they act out. Could it stem from a less than desirable home life or some experience that has left an impression on them? Perhaps something happened to them that was similar to the incident that you described that changed your convictions, only in a less positive way.”

“I’ve actually known Bulk for a long time,” said Jason. “He was one of the other bullies at camp. We were never extremely close but I do know that his dad is a jerk.”

“Mr. Bulkmeier has not had a long list of positive role models in his life,” Caplan lamented.

“I’ll change my approach,” Jason said. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”

“That’s the spirit,” Caplan encouraged. He then took out a small sheet of paper and a pen, signed it, and handed it to Jason. “Here is a hall pass. I’m sure Ms. Appleby has one of her fun, quirky assignments planned out for the last day. You’d better get to class.”

“Thanks, Mr. Caplan,” Jason said and headed to the classroom.

After class, Jason walked with Billy back to the lockers. “Did you get in trouble?” Billy asked.

“The opposite actually,” Jason reassured him. “Caplan thinks that Bulk and Skull are acting out due to trouble at home or emotional distress. He thinks that they aren’t really mean at heart; just misguided, and would like me to try to empathize with them instead of fight against them.”

Billy thought on that for a moment before responding. “I believe it. Eugene and I used to be best friends. We drifted apart as we got older. So how can we help them?”

Jason laughed, “Your endless compassion will never cease to amaze me Billy.”

“I just believe that we can be more than the sum of out experiences,” Billy offered. “So how do we reach them?”

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “But I have no doubt that between us we will figure something out. So, what have you got planned for the first weekend of summer vacation?”

“I’m going camping with my dad out past Boulder Cliff,” Billy replied nonchalantly. “My uncle has a cabin out there.”

Jason was surprised. “You? Camping?”

Billy laughed. “Yeah, it’s a compromise. Dad really wants to get away from the city for a weekend and I want to setup some new equipment I built to study the Nemesis planet. It’s trajectory should make for optimal viewing over the next few days. It’s our way of spending quality time together.”

“Okay that sounds more like you, but doesn’t the government have a whole division setup for studying the Nemesis? You know, NASA?” Jason joked.

“NASADA, actually,” Billy corrected, “They are a private company created by the techie thinktank Prometheus. They’ve partnered with NASA to study the planet but they aren’t very forth coming with their research and Mom said that I couldn’t hack the NASA servers anymore after that Federal agent showed up at our house.”

Jason laughed again.

“Do you want to come with us?” Billy asked. “I’m sure Dad won’t mind.”

“Thanks,” Jason politely declined, “but I think I will avoid that awkwardness if you don’t mind. Anyway, I told the new kid that I would spar with him some. It has to be tough transferring in the last semester of the year. I don’t think he’s made any friends yet.”

“You mean Tommy Oliver,” Billy said. “His foster sister and I are in most of the same classes. She asked me if I could help him catch up on his studies. He actually offered to train me in martial arts as compensation so I mentioned to him you two should get together.”

“He mentioned that,” Jason confirmed. “He told me he was really into fighting disciplines so I told him we should train together some. He may even have more belts than I do.”

Just then a young woman forcefully ran into Jason. She had an athletic build with amber skin and short black hair cropped close to her head in a pixie cut. “Excuse you!” she blurted out in fake rudeness.

Jason had to regain his balance before chuckling and putting his arm around her shoulders. She laughed too.

“Hi Audri!” Billy said.

Audri Kwan was one of their classmates and more interestingly, was in a pretty serious relationship with Jason. She put her arm around Jason’s waist and matched his walking pace. “So what are you boys up to?”

“Discussing weekend plans,” Jason said. “Billy is going camping with his dad.”

“Billy is going camping?!” Audri gasped in disbelief.

“I’m actually going to set up some equipment to study the Nemesis planet. There is too much light pollution in Briarwood,” Billy explained.

“Still,” she said. “Camping. Well I am heading to the Youth Center to meet Trini. Anyone want to join?”

“Cool,” Jason said. “I can drop you off at your house afterwards if you want to come along, Billy.”

“Indubitably!” Billy exclaimed.

**Nine days before Invasion Day**

Boulder Cliff was a small-town community to the north of Briarwood in the rocky hill section of Harwood County. Its namesake was derived from the presence of a large boulder that sat on the windward side of the largest cliff in the area. The rock’s immediate surroundings were zoned a State Park named the Erutan Nature Preserve and the hillside up to the top of the cliff was designated for camping. The crest of the hill overlooked the desert on the leeward side and was dotted with private and public cabins. Billy’s uncle owned a couple of these chalets that he rented out to the public and sometimes used himself as a summer home or as with this weekend, let his brother and nephew get away for a couple of days.

“This is rather nice,” Mr. Cranston commented as he swayed slightly from the gentle breeze in the hammock that hung on the front porch of the cabin. His job as an engineer was quite stressful so getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city was a good way for him to recharge. He felt himself drifting off to sleep though in the relative peacefulness and decided to get up and see what his son was up to.

A few feet away, Billy had setup a makeshift workshop for viewing the Nemesis. He had a laptop and an impressive looking telescope which were the only two normal apparatus that he had. Connected to the computer via cables were two other pieces of equipment mounted on tripods. The larger one was similar to the telescope but boxier and had several other devices stuck onto it. The second looked like a space age laser rifle without a handle or trigger.

“So what are you analyzing over there?” Mr. Cranston called to his son from the hammock.

Without taking his eye from the viewport of the telescope, Billy replied,” I am trying to get a general composition of the roaming planet.”

“With a telescope and a high-powered laser pointer?” His father chided.

“Oh no,” Billy answered plainly. “The telescope is just for aiming the laser system. I’ve used it to create a spectral grid over the visible portion of the planet and bounce LiDAR pulses off the surface. I wrote a program that will analyze the responses and compare the pulse data against every known substance that has a calculable spectral resonance.”

“You wrote a computer program to do that?” Mr. Cranston said astonished. “How can your laptop process that much data with any efficiency?”

“Oh that’s simple,” Billy continued. “I scripted out all of the recurring archetypes into bit patterns. Doing so greatly reduced the amount of data the program has to evaluate against.”

“You’re kidding!” Mr. Cranston was nearly in shock at what his son was saying. He got up from his hammock and walked closer to inspect the setup.

Billy looked up from the telescope, “Why would I joke about that?” He said plainly.

Mr. Cranston just shook his head. “You never cease to amaze me, Son. You do realize that if your results are even remotely correct NASA would kill to have equipment like this? They have telescope arrays the size of football fields that can’t levy this type of data.”

“NASA doesn’t want to share with me so I am not inclined to share with them,” Billy replied grimly.

Mr. Cranston chuckled. “I almost forgot about that. I wonder how many 10-year-olds have been investigated by the FBI for hacking into NASA? So what does the other device do? Are you targeting sonar?”

“That wouldn’t be very efficient,” Billy said. “I’m measuring the radiation signatures that the planet is giving off. I can get an idea of what the core looks like by measuring the patterns of any concentrations of radiation.”

“You can do that?” Mr. Cranston asked no less amazed.

“In theory,” Billy said. He walked over to his computer and read the latest results. His father stood eagerly behind him. “That can’t be right,” he though aloud.

“What have you discovered?” His father eagerly asked.

“Well, these readings are all over the place,” Billy said a little perplexed. “If my equations are correct then the planet doesn’t have a typical core.” He then opened a new window on his laptop and started plotting coordinates into a graphing program.

“Do you mean that the core isn’t solid?” Mr. Cranston asked. “That is not too atypical.”

“It’s…serpentine,” Billy said in surprise.

“Okay, that is indeed unusual.”

“And somewhat impossible,” Billy stated. “An anfractuous core means that it didn’t form like most celestial bodies via accretion, rotating and pulling particles to itself. It’s somehow generating gravity causing the accretion of items in its vicinity.” Then after a pause. “I need to rerun these numbers.”

“I will leave you to it then,” Mr. Cranston concluded. “My quantum calculus is a little rusty. Plus this weekend is to get me away from all the mathematics.”

Billy laughed, “Thanks, Dad.”

Some time later, Mr. Cranston had fallen asleep in the hammock and Billy was still going over his data. It was a quiet night and the sparse cloud cover allowed for mostly uninhibited study of the Nemesis. It was a new moon that night so the only light to be had was what the sun reflected off the once roaming planet but due to its smaller size it did not illuminate the landscape as a full moon would have. Due to this relative darkness, and his focus on the computer screen, Billy failed to notice what was happening on the horizon out in the desert.

Five individually colored streaks of light arced over the vista from the deep desert barreling toward Angel Grove like comets with long tails. The red, yellow, blue, pink, and, impossible to describe, black lights raced inches above the sand. When Billy finally noticed the phenomenon, the streaks were nearly at the bottom of the cliff face below him. He stood in astonishment at what he saw and walked over to the railing to get a better look. Four of the lights dashed past the cliff base and out of sight but the blue light bolted up the face straight toward Billy. He staggered backward as it crested the top and shot up into the air a foot or so over his head. It hung there for a moment like a spinning star and he could faintly see a glimmer of a golden object in its center. Then, without warning, the light shot directly towards him at blinding speed and before he could react struck him in the chest. There was a flash of bright bluish light, and Billy was gone.

The Angel Grove Youth Center was a public, after school hangout accessible to teens all over Harwood County. A school ID was required to enter and it was staffed with volunteers of both teachers and students. The facility was run by a stout, charismatic fellow named Ernie, who could often be found running the Juice Bar, dressed in one of his many loud colored Hawaiian button down shirts. Security for the Youth Center was governed by retired Lieutenant Jerome Stone, a very serious man who was a stickler for following the rules to the letter. He was tall with broad shoulders and walked with an odd gait that he described as being caused by an injury during active duty, though would not go into detail.

The Youth Center was filled with a plethora of activities and events hosted by volunteers and was sectioned off into separate areas and rooms each serving their own function. There was a gym with well-maintained equipment, a gymnastics area, a training dojo for the many martial arts classes offered, as well as study rooms, game rooms, and a dining area next to the Juice Bar which served wholesome smoothies, juices, and healthy snacks.

The Center was open everyday after school, and all day on the weekends, during school breaks, and the duration of the Summer. Funding for the Youth Center was mostly collected through charitable donations, but a large portion of the operating budget was supplied from one unnamed benefactor that remained a mystery. Regardless of where the backing came from though, the building and all of its equipment were well maintained and the Center was always hosting events to keep the teens engaged in after school activities in an effort to keep them safe and out of trouble.

Tonight was a typical night at the Angel Grove Youth Center. Ernie was busy behind the counter of the Juice Bar dancing away to the latest in popular music that he played over the radio while concocting new and unique smoothies by request. Lt. Stone alternated between watching the live video stream of the cameras that he had in every room, save the bathrooms of course, from the control center in his office to walking the halls with his odd, robotic gait eyeballing the students to make sure they knew he was always watching.

“Here we are,” said Ernie in his jovial voice as he sat two cups on the counter. “Two Ernie Specials for two of my favorite customers.” Tonight’s island apparel was a chartreuse green button down with little white palm trees and just a smattering of light-orange from the pineapple-orange smoothies he just made.

“You say that about all of your smoothies, Ernie.” Trini giggled.

“Hey,” Ernie laughed. “If I make them, then they are an Ernie special,” he said and went back to his fanciful drink mixing.

Audri and Trini Kwan enjoyed their smoothies after an intense study session in one of the quiet rooms of the Youth Center. The sisters were both in advanced classes and just because Summer break had started, that didn’t mean that either planned on getting behind in their studies. The girls were fraternal twins and though similar in may ways they each had their own uniqueness. Audri was taller with a sportier build and short, cropped hair. Trini was more petite and wore her hair long. Both girls were incredibly smart, excelling in advanced classes, though Trini tended to have the edge over her sister, while Audri was more athletic. She even taught a Kungfu class for the Youth Center which is where she met Jason who was also teaching a different martial art at the same time.

“How is your Mantis style coming along?” Audri asked her sister as they took their drinks.

“It’s a lot more difficult than I thought it would be,” Trini answered, “but Uncle Howard is a great teacher, so I know I’ll get it down.”

“Yes, he is.” Audri agreed. “Do you want to go over tothe sparring area? Jason is supposed to be practicing with the new kid.”

“Tommy, right?” Trini asked. “I heard he has more belts than Jason does, if that’s even possible. Watching them two fight should be a treat.”

With that the girls took their drinks and headed for the martial arts section of the YC. The way the building was shaped, the quickest route from the Juice Bar was to go outside through the quad that was setup like a small park between the two wings. There was a grassy area with park benches, some small trees for shade, and a few picnic tables scattered about. The area was lighted in the evenings with soft lights and hanging lanterns to give kind of a peaceful atmosphere for students to study or hangout. The girls didn’t get very far outside the doors however, when Trini noticed a yellow streak of light camber around the corner. “Is that some kind of firefly?” She asked aloud and pointed.

“That’s no insect,” Audri replied with concern as she discerned the trajectory of the object was set on Trini. “Look out!” She yelled.

Trini screamed and threw up her hands as the light raced toward her; Audri dove in the path of the glow and her sister. There was a bright flash of blinding yellow, and when it had subsided, Audri was nowhere to be seen.

In the front of the YC was also a grassy area running the length of the right wall opposite the parking lot and continuing out to a small field where sports like touch football or soccer could be played. The area closest to the building was a little knoll and like the quad, it was decorated similar to a park. Zachary Taylor led a dance class here to help boost the self-esteem of some of the younger kids that frequented the youth center. He had just finished a class before sunset and thought he would take the opportunity of a few moments spare time to work on some of his own dance moves along with a new fighting style that he was creating that merged dancing with martial arts. With his headphones in, Zack was deep into his craft with slick moves and dodges intermingled with surprisingly strong punches and kicks, so much so that he completely missed the red streak of light that rocketed over the top of the park area and only saw the black, purplish light for a fraction of a second before it struck him in the stomach and, he too, vanished on the spot.

On the opposite side of the youth center, in the gymnastics area, Kimberly Ann Heart readied herself on the balance beam to run through her new routine. During football season Kim was the head of the school’s cheerleading squad but once football was over for the year, she turned her sights to gymnastics. Kim was an extremely talented gymnast who had already won several awards including a few World Championships and had even applied to be on the US Olympics Gymnastics team. The gym was unusually empty on this night and a little eerie in its quietness. Normally the high ceiling room was filled with the squeaks of wrapped feet on gym mats, the rattling of equipment, and the cheers or cries of successful and unsuccessful moves. With so few people in the area no one noticed when a pinkish streak of light spiraled through an open window and struck Kimberly in the side amidst one of her flips.

The martial arts area of the sports wing was in the same auditorium as the gymnastics section but was separated by a movable curtain that was currently pulled to place. The students often referred to this section as the dojo since it was filled with punching bags, floor mats, and padded weapons of all kinds so that several instructors of differing martial arts could come and offer lessons to the students. Here, Jason and Tommy had already squared off a couple of times and were starting to get a real feel for each other’s fighting styles.

“You’re good,” Jason complimented between breathes. “It’s nice to have someone on my level to train against.”

“You’re not bad yourself,” Tommy said with hands on his knees. “I haven’t had a decent workout like this in a while.”

“Decent?” Jason quipped with an inflection of fake offense. “Oh it’s time to step this up then.”

Tommy straightened and took up his fighting stance. “I was wondering when you were going to stop playing around,” he smiled but before either of them could make a move, the red light spiraled into the room. It darted back and forth between the two fighters like it was having difficulty deciding on its target. It shuttered then shot towards Tommy only to stop inches before it struck him, change direction, and fly at Jason. Seeing its trajectory, Jason had more time to react and dodged at the last second to allow the orb to shoot past him but with unnatural speed, the orb changed direction instantaneously and struck Jason in the side anyway. There was a blinding flash of scarlet light and Jason was gone leaving Tommy alone in the youth center trying to figure out what just happened.

**An Alien Space**

Billy landed on his feet but since he had been retreating when the light struck him, he fell backwards. Audri landed on top of him in the same diving position that she was in when she had leapt in front of Trini. Kimberly, being in the middle of a flip, landed upside-down on her hands but gracefully walked back up to her feet before clumsily crashing into Zack who suddenly appeared in her path. Jason landed still in fighting position and when he opened his eyes everything was blurry, his ears were ringing, and he was dizzy and just a little nauseated, as were the rest of them. When his eyes started to focus, he could definitely tell that he was no longer in the youth center but where he was he had no idea. Looking around the dimly-lit room he could only see metallic and smooth surfaces. He had never seen any place like this before.

“Jason?” asked Zack as his eyes also started to focus. “Is that you?”

“Zack?!” Jason exclaimed. “How did we get here? Where is here?”

“I want to know that too,” Kim said as Zack helped her gain her balance. “and why do I suddenly feel so sick?”

Walking over to where they were standing Jason could now better see the others. “Audri!” he exclaimed and helped his girlfriend to her feet. “Billy?” he said now noticing his friend under her. He reached out his hand and helped him up. “Do you know what is going on here?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” Billy said pushing the glasses up on his nose. “We definitely got here through some sort of instant transmission, like teleportation, but where here is, is mysteriously fascinating.”

The five teenagers grouped together and began taking in the situation. They all recognized each other from school though they shared differing levels of acquaintance. Jason and Zack had taken some martial arts classes together but were also both on the football team. Zack had doubled as a running back and a linesman. They both knew Kimberly as she was on the cheer squad but none of them hung out much outside of school or the football season.

“Any guesses?” Audri asked looking around.

“There is not much to go on,” Billy explained as he examined the nearest pillar, “but these metallic surfaces don’t look man-made nor does the metal that they’re made from look like any element I’ve ever seen. Logic would deduce that we are on some sort of extraterrestrial craft.”

Zack rolled his eyes, “That seems a little extreme…”

“We are on an alien spaceship?!” Kimberly interrupted him with a yell.

“That is precisely correct.” Came a somewhat robotic yet jovial voice from the shadows. “Oh my! My deepest apologies! I completely forgot to turn the lights on. We haven’t been in this part of the ship in sometime.” They turned to look at the voice and to the dismay of the five teenagers it did not come from a person nor from what they thought an alien would look like. Instead it belonged to a small, five-foot-tall robot. The little android shuffled into the room and the lights came on as it did. It was very humanoid in appearance with feet, arms, and legs all where they should be, and a body that looked to belong to a large child. It wore what appeared to be an armored vest with a lightning bolt on the front that pulsed in a steady pattern growing up from the bottom. At first glance, it could have easily just been a little man in a suit as humanoid as it appeared. Only its head was inhuman looking. The saucer like disk that sat on its neck had a thick brim with a little red light that moved back and forth across the front, presumably as an ocular device for whichever direction that the robot was looking. It seemed to be a track that could go all the way around the edge allowing it to see in any direction without actually turning its head. There was a dome in the center of the saucer that acted as the crown of its cranium. “My name is Alpha 5,” the little robot quipped, “and I am sure all of you are very curious why you are here, woah!” The android’s introduction was interrupted as it tripped and fell sprawled out on the floor. “Oh dear!” It exclaimed.

Without a thought, Billy stepped forward to help and grabbed Alpha under the arm. Jason, seeing his friend nonchalantly and unawares enter a potentially dangerous situation, leapt to the other side of the robot, giving Billy a ‘what are you thinking?’ look, but helping him none the less.

“Wow!” Billy exclaimed as he righted the little, metal humanoid. “A fully sentient, multi-functioning, automaton!”

“Thank you, human,” Alpha said as it brushed itself off. Its movements were remarkably fluid, despite being a robot, as were its mannerisms. “The sickness that you may be experiencing was caused by the stress of your first-time teleporting. It will pass soon and become less prominent each time you do it.”

“The technology here is amazing!” Billy continued. “How did you get us here? What sort of teleportation mechanism did you use? Quantum entanglement?”

“You can’t just go around abducting people dude,” Zack interrupted. “That’s not cool at all.”

“Are… Are you an alien?” Kimberly asked somewhat sheepishly while peering from behind Zack.

“You aren’t probing or experimenting on any of us without a fight!” Audrey challenged and raised her fists.

“Guys!” Jason intervened. “Let’s all calm down. I don’t think he wants to hurt us. Besides, “he said looking around, “I don’t think there’s much we could do to stop him even if we wanted to.”

“Actually,” came a deep, ominous voice. “Alpha is programmed with the behaviorisms that humans would consider more feminine.” As the voice spoke, lights began to flicker on in a once darkened part of the room. From the shadows, the kids could now see a circular platform lined with computer terminals and panels, though no screens were present. Alpha began shuffling toward the platform and beckoned the teens to follow; trading glances, they reluctantly did. Once inside the circle, Alpha clicked a few buttons and four strings of white light spiraled up from the floor, each at four points outside the circle. The teens could now see that the lights were strung around four pillars that made a square about the platform.

“Welcome to the Command Center,” the voice boomed again. This time it was coming from the far wall to the north of the stage where a large, clear tube rose from a sci-fi looking contraption, complete with hoses and hissing steam, all the way to the ceiling, or what could be seen of the ceiling. The tube gave off a bluish glow and was filled with a churning mist. From the caerulean miasma could now be seen a large face, mostly human in appearance but with pale blue skin and odd ridges that enhanced its features. It shifted as it spoke to face each teen in turn in a somewhat dramatic fashion but as the space around its eyes were shadowed, this may have been the only way to show where its gaze was being directed. “My name is Zordon of Eltar, and you have already met my friend and assistant, Alpha Five.”

“Is…is everybody seeing the floating, talking head?” Kimberly asked in disbelief.

“Seeing, yes,” Zack said surprised, “believing, not so much.”

“That doesn’t tell us much,” Jason said drumming up his courage and stepping forward to face the face. “I’m assuming Eltar is your home world? What are your intentions for Earth?”

“You can relax, Jason.” Zordon chuckled. “We have no intentions of harming you or this planet. We are actually here to protect it.”

“How do you know my name?”

“I know all of your names,’ Zordon continued, “Zachary Taylor, Kimberly Ann Hart, William Cranston, Etheldred Kwan, and Jason Lee Scott” as he nodded to each.

“Well that’s not creepy or anything,” Zack remarked sarcastically. “Wait…your name is Etheldred?” he chuckled.

“Not if you want to live,” Audri snapped back. Zack held up his hands and mouthed, ‘my bad’.

“Okay,” said Jason. “Then what are you doing here?”

“Millennia ago,” Zordon explained, “Eltar was my home. I was of a peaceful race that spread out across the galaxy bringing technology to many peoples on many planets. I came to this world during the time of the creatures you now call dinosaurs. This has been my home ever since.”

“That would make you millions of years old.” Billy stated.

“The passage of time has little effect on the Eltar,” Zordon said. “Our lifespans are not based on the same restrictions as many of the other corporeal beings in existence, nor are our lives exactly linear.” 

“This is too much,” Kimberly exclaimed. “A floating, alien face and a robot with a flying saucer for a head have abducted us and none of you are freaking out!” Her voice got louder as she spoke and she threw up her hands.

“Chill out, Barbie,” Audri said impatiently. “Hysterics are not going to help anything.”

Kimberly shot Audri a dirty look but before she could retort, Billy addressed Zordon. “Zordon, why did speak of Eltar in the past tense?”

Zordon’s face grew visibly dim. “More than ten thousand of your years ago my home planet was destroyed by an evil sorcerous named Rita Repulsa.”

“Destroyed?” Zack asked. “As in made uninhabitable destroyed or as in Alderaan destroyed?”

Billy slowly turned his head to face Zack bearing a surprised, wide-eyed expression.

“What?” Zack said. “I play football so I can’t like Star Wars?”

Audri quickly changed the subject, “I’m sorry for your loss, and I don’t mean to sound harsh, but what does that have to do with us?”

“Ten thousand years ago,” Zordon began, “Rita and I were locked in an arresting battle on this world. I was able to seal her in her ship and, disabling it, jettison her into space, but it was only a matter of time before she returned, and now that she has, your world is in grave danger.”

“The Nemesis planet!” Billy blurted out. “That must be her ship.”

“Her space ship is a whole planet?” Audri asked in disbelief.

“No,” Zordon explained. “Her ship is IN the planet. The substrate encases it like a tomb and prevents Rita from restoring it to full power.”

“Okay,” Jason said trying to make sense of it all. “That still doesn’t tell us what WE are doing here.”

Alpha blurted out unable to contain her excitement, “You five have been chosen to be the new Power Rangers!”

“The what now?” Kim asked.

“An elite, intergalactic team of paladins tasked with defeating evil in all forms,” Zordon elucidated. “You will be given access to the unlimited powers contained in the Morphing Grid and have at your disposal an arsenal of weapons, armor, vehicles, and special abilities like this world has not witnessed in some time.”

“Wait,” Jason said suddenly trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. “You are going to make us superheroes?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Zordon confirmed.

“Sweet!” Zack didn’t hide his excitement like Jason did.

“Hold on,” Audri spoke up. “Let’s say we even believe you. That still doesn’t explain why we are here. We’re just teenagers. If you have some sort of futuristic technology to fight evil space witches then why aren’t you giving it to the military? Those people are trained for this kind of thing.”

“No one on your planet is trained to handle a Bandora like Rita,” Zordon said. “I do, however, see your point and I empathize with your reluctance. There are others on Earth who are better fighters, maybe better strategists, but the Power chose you, and not them. Within each of you is something that makes you the perfect pilots for the Power Armor that you will operate; something that you will discover on your journey ahead. But, in order to take the first step, you will need these. Hold out your hands and I will show you.”

Each of the five traded hesitant looks then slowly extended their hands as to receive a gift. Zordon spoke to each of them in turn and as he did as small light, matching the color of the light that brought them there, flashed in each of their palms. As it receded, in its place was a brass-colored coin, about the size of a silver dollar but nearly a half inch in thickness. Etched in each was the likeness of a prehistoric beast. Zordon continued:

“Zachary, clever and brave, you will claim the power of the Mastodon and wield the Black Power Armor.   
Kimberly, graceful and smart, you will command the power of the Pterodactyl and the Pink Power Armor.   
Billy, patient and wise, you will control the power of the Triceratops and the Blue Power Armor. Audri, fearless and agile, you will claim the power of the Saber-tooth Tiger and the Yellow Power Armor.   
Jason, bold and powerful, you will control the power of the Tyrannosaurus and the Red Power Armor, and as the Red Ranger, will be the leader of this team.  
Together you will be the first Power Rangers of Earth.”

The teens examined their coins and stole skeptical glances at each other.

“So are these like keys or something?” Kimberly asked.

“Or is this power armor pay-per-use?” quipped Zack.

“The Power Coins are your access to the Morphing Grid,” Zordon explained. “Alpha, would you please summon the Dino Bucklers?”

“Right away, Zordon.” Alpha chirped and pressed a sequence of keys on the control panel. As she did a small pedestal rose from the floor in the center of the platform. “Gather around please,” she instructed and the teens reluctantly encircled the little post. The sides near the top then opened revealing a lighted chamber inside. “These are your Dino Bucklers,” Alpha said of the objects inside. “They will allow you to morph into your Power Suits.” They each slowly reached in the nearest opening and removed what appeared to be a large belt buckle. The face was silver with black lightning bolts adorning each corner and there was a hole in the center that matched the size and shape of the coins that they were given moments before. The back had a golden square with an ornate letter Z raised on the surface and a handle that, pulled down from the top, was connected at the sides.

“Place your Power Coins in the slot on the Morphers,” Zordon instructed and the teens did so one by one. Instantly, they felt a surge of energy run through them like the sensation of a limb falling asleep except through the whole body. They shuddered and looked at each other.

“Woah,” Zack uttered and placed a hand on his head. “Anyone else feel that?”

“The sudden wave of energy accompanied by moderate dizziness?” Billy expounded. “Indisputably.”

“Is that why my face and fingers are prickly?” Kim added.

“What you are feeling is the Power of the Morphing Grid surge through you. Should you accept the responsibilities of being a Ranger, the Coins will alter your DNA allowing you full access to its power.”

“Hold up,” Audri spoke out. “Alter our DNA? Are you making us into aliens or something?”

“By no means,” Zordon assured her. “The Morphing Grid technology operates in a manner unlike any technology that you have experienced. The altering is merely bonding the Power to you in a pure, symbiotic relationship.”

“You mentioned our personality traits,” Jason questioned, “but what is with the dinosaurs? And you keep talking about this Morphing Grid like we are supposed to know what that means.”

“The Morphing Grid is a semi-sentient power source that exits in a pocket dimension fueled by the extragalactic accumulator known as the Zeo Crystal. It is the source of all Power Ranger abilities.” Zordon answered cryptically.

“Well that just clears it right up, thanks,” Audri said sarcastically.

“He means,” Billy clarified, “that this Zeo Crystal is from another galaxy and it is used like a battery to charge the Power Armor and all of the abilities that come with it. By semi-sentient, one would assume that it has a limited consciousness of sorts. It can think and possibly even feel, but whether or not it is technically ‘alive’ would be up to debate.”

“Thanks, Billy,” Jason said.

“The pre-historic beasts,” Zordon continued, “are the avatars chosen to represent the powers given to each Ranger in turn. I chose them out of a fondness for each of the creatures and the traits that each seemed to represent, and the Grid accepted them as symbols. To call your armor, simply hold the Morphers out in front of you and call on the name of your beast.”

“So what do we do now?” Jason asked.

“You decide,” Zordon replied. “The Power chose you, but it will not force you to be a Ranger, nor will I. This is something that you must choose yourself. It will be difficult, and dangerous, and will require a commitment greater than any you have accepted in your lives thus far. Accepting this will be accepting the fate of your world and everything in it as you will be required to make sacrifices and give everything you have to protecting Earth and defeating Rita Repulsa.”

The kids looked the Dino Bucklers over in their hands and at each other. The silence that followed seemed endless. None of them wanted to speak first and none of them were absolutely sure that they could accept such a responsibility.

“I can’t,” Audri was the first to speak up. “I can’t even believe this let alone accept such a responsibility. I’m only seventeen; I’m not a hero.”

“I don’t know either,” Zack agreed. “This seems like too big a thing for us. It sounds exciting but, fighting aliens? Futuristic technology? This stuff is cool in movies but I don’t know about living it.”

“That’s a no from me too,” Kim chimed in. “With everything my family is going through, and I just overcame being the social outcast in a new city. Blowing off my mom and friends to ‘save the world’, I just don’t think I can.” She crossed her arms at this and hung her head.

“I’m in!” Billy said a little too loudly.

“Really?” Jason asked surprised.

“I know I’m not a fighter,” Billy explained, “but I can’t pass up the chance to work with genuine alien technology. Think of all I could learn!”

Jason looked hard at his friend then at each of the others. “Me too, then.”

“Jason, no.” Audri said barely above a whisper.

“I can’t let you do this by yourself, man.” He put a hand on Billy’s shoulder earning a smile from him. “Besides,” he continued now turning to Zordon, “my entire life has been about atonement and helping people. If I turned down an opportunity like this then all of my accomplishments are for nothing.”

“What do we do then?” Audri asked of Zordon, but mostly she was asking Jason. Could their relationship continue if he accepted this burden?

“For now,” Zordon said, “you are free to leave. The time for action will come very soon, but I suspect that each of you need to process what has occurred here.”

“You got that right,” Zack said. “I guess you want these back?” He asked holding up the Morpher.

“Keep them,” Zordon said. “You may find use for them after all, but if not, then they will return to me on their own.” With that the Morphers flashed with a bright light and were gone. “Should you need them, merely think of them appearing in your hand and appear they will. Alpha, please guide them through the chamber to the door.”

“Yes, sir,” Alpha responded almost dejectedly. “Please follow me,” and she led them from the platform to a previously unseen doorway. Once they were out of the room, Zordon sighed to himself, “Teenagers,” he shook his head, “with attitude.”

Alpha led them through a short hall to what appeared to be a dead-end but when she approached the wall a door sized panel immediately slid away letting bright sunlight illuminate the hallway. “Right this way,” she chirped and motioned them through. “Thank you for coming.”

The teens were pretty confused but reluctantly exited the Command Center into the sunlit desert scape. Once outside, the door slammed behind them, locking them out.

“Rude!” Kimberly screamed at the now blank wall.

“Yeah,” Zack agreed. “He can teleport us here but not back? Are we supposed to wander the desert in search of civilization now? What am I, a black Moses?” He shouted up to the tower that formed the center of the Command Center.

Billy intensely took in his surroundings then quizzically looked at his watch. “Jason,” Billy whispered as to not alarm anyone. “Something is wrong here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, barring some kind of temporal anomaly,” Billy explained. “it should be dark out. We were abducted in the evening and unless the spaceship rendered my watch inert, we’ve only been gone approximately 5 minutes.”

“Well,” Jason thought as the others gathered around now, “we don’t actually know how this teleportation works. We could be on the other side of the world or even another planet.”

“Unlikely based on the sun,” Billy disagreed pointing. “The closest yellow star is lightyears away and if Zordon could teleport that far wouldn’t that negate the need for a spaceship in the first place?”

“Okay, so logically speaking,” Audri chimed in, “we are still on Earth, but we could still be on the other side of the planet.”

“Also, unlikely,” Billy continued. “The cactus like trees on the cliff there are Yucca brevifolia.”

“Meaning?” asked Zack.

“He means that Joshua trees only grow in the western United States,” Kimberly informed them causing everyone to turn and look at her puzzled. “What? I like plants, okay?” she huffed and crossed her arms.

“So you are saying that it should be dark out?” Zack asked.

“And a lot hotter now that I think about it,” Jason interjected. “The sun is almost directly overhead and should be beating down on us, yet I’m not even mildly uncomfortable for being in the desert.”

“This is too weird,” Kimberly remarked. “Jason, what do we do?”

“I don’t know,” Jason started, “but I know we aren’t going to wander around the desert without any supplies.”

“Hold up,” Zack interrupted. “Just because some floating alien head said you were the leader doesn’t make it so.”

“Well,” Jason answered the challenge. “What do you suggest?”

“I suggest we get as far away from this creepy building as quickly as possible.” Zack answered him. “Who knows how long it will be before more creepy stuff goes down.”

“I’d say not long at all,” came a scratchy female voice from a ledge behind them. They turned to see a pale woman in a brown dress and armored corset. Her white hair was fashioned into twin horns on her head and she held a golden staff with a large crescent moon at the top. “Why such the rush, kiddies?” she cackled. “Let’s have some fun first.”

“Who are you?” Jason asked, half knowing the answer.

“And what are you wearing?” Kim asked with disgust in her voice.

“Really?” Audri addressed Kim who just shrugged.

The woman on the cliff smiled a smile that spread too far across her face in a Cheshire grin revealing her pointed teeth. “That fool Zodon didn’t warn you of who I am?” she cackled “The great Bandora, Rita Repulsa?”

“So is bandora like a space witch or something?” Zack asked Billy.

“I would a assume so from context clues,” Billy guessed. “That’s a new one on me though.”

“FOOLS!” Rita screamed and raised her staff, the green gem flickering to life. “I will not be flouted! Listen to me when I speak to you, you insolent filth!” With that the ground around the teens began to buckle and crack upwards. Twisting masses of rock and sand rose up around them molding into deformed human shapes with eyeless sockets and gaping maws. “Arise my Putties and teach these children a lesson.”

“What is happening?” Kim screamed.

“Zack, Audri, circle up!” Jason yelled as the creatures shambled forward. “Kim, Billy, get in between us.” Zack, Audri, and Jason made a loose circle facing outward surrounding Kim and Billy, and ready themselves in fighting position. The Putties, like muddy zombies, lumbered toward the teens. Once in striking distance Jason swiftly kicked one square in the chest. The thing crumbled as it flew backwards landing as a cloud of dust on the ground. “They aren’t very stable!” he cried out and the three began to shatter the creatures as they continued to advance.

To their horror though, the soldiers were forming faster than they could combat them forcing them back against the cliff face. Rita sat on the ledge cackling maniacally as the Putties were quickly overtaking the teenagers.

“Jason, they have us trapped,” Billy exclaimed as he was pushed up against the rock wall.

“Now what?” Audri inquired.

Jason thought for a moment, then, holding up his fist, thought hard about what Zordon had told them. In a flash of red light, the Morpher appeared in his hand. “Now,” he said with confidence. “It’s Morphin’ Time!”

Audri stared at him quizzically. “Really? Is that what you’re going with?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Just do it. This might be our only chance.”

“Let’s see how legit this is then,” Zack said as his Morpher appeared.

“Why not,” Audri gave in.

“This armor better not mess up my hair,” Kimberly warned.

“Fascinating!” exclaimed Billy as the buckle appeared in his hand.

Then they held the Dino Bucklers in front of them and all called out the avatars like Zordon instructed.

“Mastodon!”

“Pterodactyl!”

“Triceratops!”

“Saber-toothed Tiger!”

“Tyrannosaurus!”

At their cries the Morphers cracked open and an immense light erupted from the fissure. The Morphers then dissipated and the light, coded to their established colors, began to crawl up their arms. Its wake formed the Power Armor as it went and continued over their entire persons.

The armor was like a second skin over their bodies seemingly skin-tight with augmented armor plating in specific areas like the arms, legs, chest, and shoulders. Each one was color coded to the light that engulfed them: black for Zack, pink for Kim, blue for Billy, yellow for Audri, and red for Jason. These were the primary colors of each suit. The boots and gauntlets were white with a diamond pattern of the primary color at the tops while a white diamond adorned the chest of each. Their heads were shielded with a helmet that was molded to look like the ancient beast that represented them with the visor set in the beast’s the mouth. Below this sat a silver mouth piece with molded lips. The Morphers now reappeared attached to a white belt around their waists on which hung a laser blaster in its holster.

The entire transformation happened in a split second and once complete, Rita ceased her mephistophelian laughter. The Putties froze mid-step, unsure as how to proceed. Jason looked at the gauntlets covering his hands then the armor over his body. He also looked at the others who were doing the same. He could feel the raw power pulsing through him as he made a fist and locked his body into a fighting stance. The armor itself was astonishingly light, almost like he wasn’t wearing it at all, but the power surging through him told him otherwise and somehow he could sense that this shielding, though thin and weightless, was incredibly durable. “All right guys, he said, “I think this more than levels the playing field. Let’s take these things out.”

“Right!” the other four said in unison.

Jason sprang forward, fist raised to take out the creature in front of him but he grossly underestimated his new strength and speed and plowed right through two monsters like they were made of fog, shattering them to dust where they stood. “Whoa,” he said looking back at the sheer distance he had inadvertently traveled. “Be careful everyone and check your movements. We seem to be much faster and stronger.” The other four jumped into action as well. Rocks were flying everywhere as they destroyed the monsters without breaking a sweat.

Rita jumped up and down stomping her feet while shaking her fists as the Power Rangers made short work of her Putty Patrollers. “NO, NO, NO!” she screamed. “AAAHH!” more screaming. “Your suits may have made short work of dirt men but let’s see how well you make out against my entire army!” With that she renewed her cackling as a plethora of vile and malformed creatures crested the hill behind her. Standing at her side were dozens of immense, demonic creatures with dripping fangs and razor claws. Some were mutilated as if one or more creatures had been forced together, some were fused with inanimate objects, and others wore demonic armor, but they all stood upright, hominin in appearance.

“Now,” Rita began with her Cheshire smile, “let’s see how you fair against my generals.” At her command the monsters rushed over the side of the cliff and sprang toward the Rangers. Overwhelmed and outnumbered the inexperienced teenagers should have fled for their lives screaming at the monstrosities hurdling after them, but instead they stood their ground. “Tighten up!” Jason shouted like they were on the football field. “We’re stronger together.

The foremost beast leapt at Jason who prepared to strike the creature, but before it could reach him a deafening voice boomed out over the landscape, “ENOUGH!” It was Zordon and with his command everything froze in place. The monsters and Rita were motionless where they stood and the pouncing brute hung fixed in the air.

“End simulation.” Zordon commanded. As he did, the world around them melted away, monsters and all, revealing an empty void of blackness all around them save for a grid of bright blue lines above and below them.

“What is happening?” Audri asked.

“Please excuse my ruse, Rangers,” said the disembodied voice of Zordon, “but I wanted you to not only hear what would befall your world but experience it at well. Helmets off.” When he said this, the helmets of all five Rangers dematerialized from them leaving their heads exposed.

“Is this like some other dimension?” Zack asked after he realized he could still breathe in the space.

“In a manner of speaking,” Zordon acknowledge. “You are standing in a four-dimensional continuum that I have full control over. I can create objects,” as he said this a table and a chair for each teen appeared in front of them. “I can create landscapes,” Zordon continued and the visible space was suddenly flooded with lush plants of an alien nature and massive trees that formed a canopy above them. “And, I can create the likeness of any creature that I am familiar with or can imagine.” With that a person stepped out from the flora. He was massively tall, approaching seven feet, but proportional and human looking except for the pale blue skin over his entire body. He wore a long, flowing white rob with a matching pellegrina over his shoulders, like a bishop at the Vatican, and a circlet of white on his brow like a crown. In his right hand he carried a long staff that wound into a spiral with protrusions on the outside, like a cross-section of a whelk shell.

“Zordon?” Jason asked of the being.

“Yes. This is was my appearance when I still had a tangible body.”

“Remarkable!” Billy said enthusiastically. “It’s like the holo-deck from Star-Trek.”

“So this was all fake?” Audri asked angrily.

“Not entirely,” Zordon answered. “What you saw was a candid representation of not only what Rita Repulsa looks like, but of her mannerisms as well. The soldiers and her monstrous generals are all creatures that I have personally faced before she destroyed my physical being.”

“And the suits?” Jason asked.

“Those are real,” said Zordon. “I wanted to put you in a situation that would require you to either flee or stand and fight. I ventured that if you chose to stand your ground, you would be forced to use the Armor, and in doing so, experience what I am offering to you.”

“So this was a test?” Kimberly asked. “Did we pass?”

“Very much so,” Zordon said gladly. “You stood your ground when faced with overwhelming odds and naturally predicated toward teamwork instead of individualism. All of these are qualities that make a Power Ranger.”

“You gambled with our lives!” Audri practically screamed at the sage. “What if we hadn’t morphed? One of those things could have severely injured or even killed one of us!”

“I assure you that none of you were in any real danger,” Zordon attempted to assuage her. “While the holograms appear and even feel real, they are completely harmless at this level. No tangible impairment could have befallen you no matter how realistic the holo-forms seem.”

“I still feel played,” Audri retorted.

“I sincerely apologize for misleading you, Audri,” Zordon repented. “An analysis in this environment was more desirable than to have you caught unawares at Rita’s disposal. In addition, I can also show you things in this environment that mere words cannot express.”

“Like what?” asked Kim.

“Like Eltar,” Zordon waived his staff and the little pocket of vegetation opened up to a wondrous landscape unlike any the five Earthlings had seen before. The sky was of a blue so light that it was almost white in color and dotted with semi-transparent blue clouds. The grass in the immediate vicinity was a blushed purple and faded into a mute orange in the distance as it grew taller and more wild. The trees around them had off-white trunks with grayish knots and markings and sprouted leaves of thrilling shades of red, purple, and orange.

In the distance, purple mountains rose from the plains and nestled in between two peaks was an enormous futuristic city with green and silver buildings reaching to impossible heights straight from a science fiction writer’s dream.

Kimberly was practically stunned. “It’s beautiful.”

“Indeed,” Zordon agreed sadly, “it truly was…until Rita came.”

Suddenly the forest surroundings were engulfed in a backdraft of flame. The Rangers instinctively ducked or covered their faces before realizing they were still in the simulation and the flames couldn’t hurt them. The explosion cleared and through the burning flora they could see the fields of grass in flames. The sky was littered with what must have been spaceships raining laser blasts down on the city.

“What’s happening?” Kimberly found herself shouting.

“Rita carried a personal vengeance for the Eltar and me especially,” Zordon explained. “We had fought for eons but after her partner suffered what should have been a fatal incident, she went mad with rage and levied her entire army against the Eltar and our planet intending to erase us from existence.”

“And what happened?” Jason asked.

“She succeeded,” Zordon said darkly.

Billy had been studying the ships since they first appeared, taking in the entire scene with empathetic though curious macabre. One in particular held his attention. The largest of the ships was serpentine in shape, its structure twisting in upon itself forming a loose figure eight but with a forward portion separate from the main body and what appeared to be a tail in the rear. The main section of the lemniscate ship seemed to be undulating but the fore and aft sections remained impossibly fixed. “Zordon?” Billy asked almost interrupting. “What is that ship there?”

“The flagship of the fleet and the most powerful weapon at Rita’s disposal,” Zordon answered.

“I’ve seen that ship before,” Billy said.

“How?” Audri asked skeptically.

“I’ve been studying the Nemesis since it’s been close enough to detect,” Billy expounded. “Since it’s been trapped in Earth’s orbit, I’ve been able to gather very precise data on it and I was gathering more while camping in Erutan Park with my dad before we were teleported here. Some of the thermal scans that I took shows the planet has a core that is shaped almost identical to that ship.”

“So your saying,” Zack tried to make sense of Billy’s rambling, “that’s ship that’s in the little planet circling Earth right now?”

“It looks like a Chinese dragon,” Audri commented as she examined it closer.

“You are correct, Billy,” Zordon noted. “When I defeated Rita here on Earth, that is the very craft I trapped her in; the one that currently lies dormant within the Nemesis.”

“So what happened to Eltar?” Kimberly apprehensively asked.

Zordon’s gaze shifted to the dragonesque craft. “I was on Earth during the attack. Once I got word what was happening, Alpha and I immediately rushed to the aid of my people, but we were too late. Once Rita discovered that I was not on the planet…she had no more use for it.” Zordon averted his gaze with tears in his eyes. The great, flying serpent straightened out as it descended and landed near the city on two enormous hind legs. Its form towered over the very mountains and arched into the shape of an ‘S’ leaning back on its tail as two large sections fanned out above its forelegs like shoulders. The great, horned head tilted downward and its fearsome maw opened toward the city. The Rangers watched in horror as an intense light flashed in its muzzle before leaping out and vaporizing the city before it. The beam, however, did not stop at the towers and pummeled the ground beneath it, burning through the surface and into the planet’s core. When the beam finally ceased, the dragon tilted its face skyward and spiraled up from the ground and into space.

A moment later the entire planet broke apart in an indescribable explosion that engulfed everything in flame.

When the flash subsided, the Rangers found themselves standing on a bit of debris floating in space with the ruins of what remained of Eltar floating around them. Kimberly was crying, unable to hold back the emotion. Tears pooled in the corners of Billy and Audri’s eyes. Jason hung his head and Zack spoke grimly as he stared into the wreckage, “Like Alderaan then.”

Jason looked to Zordon, “If that ship is inside the Nemesis and Rita is in there, can she do that to Earth?”

“Not by herself, no,” Zordon said. “I managed to disable most of the ship when I entombed her inside. She will not be able to get much more than the life support and basic functions of it operative without her partner, whom as far as anyone can discern, perished long ago.” There was a brief flitting of pain in Zordon’s voice and face as he mentioned the demise of this mysterious partner but only Jason noticed. “However, this does not make her any less threatening. Rita has conquered and enslaved countless planets without the use of Serpentera or her full army. The people of Earth are in grave danger at her awakening.”

“And if you left?” Zack asked though he knew the answer. “Would she just follow you since she can’t blow up the planet?”

“She knows my attachment to this plant is strong,” answered Zordon, “as she knows that I cannot stand by as innocent life suffers. She would hold this planet hostage until I retuned and surrendered to her. Then she would destroy it anyway to watch me grieve.”

“You are sure of this?” asked Audri.

Zordon hung his head, “In a time long past I naively believed that there was good in her. I surrendered to her hoping to spare the lives of an entire solar system that she was oppressing. She imprisoned me and forced me to watch as she burned planet after planet just to laugh at my pain. While my presence here makes Earth the latest target in this galactic war it also offers the only chance you have in defeating this tyrant.”

“So,” Jason asked, “what do we do?”

“Go back to your lives.” Zordon said to their dismay. “This dimension is removed from the time stream and once Alpha teleports you back, only mere moments will have passed since you left. Tell no one of what you saw here or what is to come. Explain away your disappearance in any plausible way to keep those closest to you out of harm’s way, should the knowing of my existence place them in danger.”

“Wait,” Jason interrupted. “I agreed to this. You can’t expect me to lay this down just because I’ve seen how dangerous it could be. Seeing what Rita can do only reinforces my resolve to stop her.”

“Now that you have seen and experienced what is to come, and what you can do to stop it,” Zordon explained, “each of you must take this information and truly decide whether or not you want this responsibility. Even though you were the ones chosen, I will not force this on any of you. Taking up this yolk will change your lives. It will be dangerous and I cannot guarantee your safety or even your survival. You will have to keep your powers a secret as revealing them could put those close to you in grave danger, and that will alienate you from friends and family. Carefully consider all that you have witnessed and all that you have learned here, but time is of the essence. Rita is already preparing for her first attack and should you decide to take up this burden, you will need much more training before you are ready to face her. In one day’s time, meet near the cabin where Billy will be returned to, at the cliff facing the desert. Those of you who accept will be teleported back here, and know this, there will be no ill feelings harbored for those who decline. I wish you nothing but the best.”

Before any of them could object or question, the colored lights engulfed them once more and they were instantly transmitted from whence they came.


	4. Chapter 3: Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The soon to be Rangers must decide if they actually want the huge responsibility as things in their lives get complicated.

**Decisions**

When Billy opened his eyes, he was standing at his mobile workstation at the campsite, alone and back in his street clothes. He quickly looked around and saw that his dad was asleep in the hammock on the front porch, none the wiser that Billy had been gone for an indeterminable amount of time. “How surreal,” he thought to himself. Then he concentrated on the morpher and it materialized in his hand just as it did before. Studying it closely, he saw that the crack from when they morphed was gone, like it had healed itself. The bronze coin was set where it had been before with the molded image of a triceratops head facing out from the left but there was now a red circle around the coin and inside, the words “Power Rangers” written in white letters. He found it particularly strange that the words would be in English, given this was alien technology, and now that he thought about it, Zordon and Alpha both spoke English as well; curious, he thought. He would have to ask them about that.

As he turned the morpher over in his hands he found himself hoping to find some form of data port on the device. A USB would be wishful thinking, but still he was curious to see if he could digitally interface with it somehow, but he found nothing of the sort. Instead he carefully removed the Power Coin from the center and sat the morpher down on the table. The coin was heavy and made of a metallic substance that Billy could not visually identify. He sat the coin down on a blank space on his laptop and opened the programs that had been collecting data on the Nemesis. A series of images popped up on his screen. He studied them quickly with great concern at what he was seeing and then messaged a few to Jason. Afterwards he pulled out his cell phone and sent everyone the address of the cabin hoping they would come around and meet him here tomorrow. When he looked back up at his laptop, the screen blinked out and went blank. A split second later, it was flooded with cascading alien characters. “What is happening?” Billy thought aloud then he noticed the coin was glowing with a soft white light. He cautiously touched it but it wasn’t hot, though when he did, the cascading alien symbols flickered and rearranged themselves into English letters. “Curiouser and curiouser,” Billy exclaimed and studied the screen intently.

Back at the Angel Grove Youth Center Zack reappeared right where he vanished from, his music still playing thru the portable speakers attached to his cell phone. “That was wild,” he thought aloud and touched his head that was spinning still from the teleportation then decided to pack up and head home. When he turned to leave he almost ran right into Angela whom had walked up behind him while he put his stuff in his backpack. “Whoa, Angela!” he said with a start barely stopping himself in time.

“Hi, Zack,” she said coyly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” Angela was on the cheer squads for both the Angel Grove football and basketball teams where she had met Zack. Over the course of the last semester she had developed a crush on him, something that Zack requited, but neither had made the first move.

Zack tried to play it off, “It’s all good,” he said coolly. “What’s up?”

Angela brushed a strand of hair from her face and said, “I saw you over here and thought you might be practicing that hip hop karate that you talk about.”

“Yeah, Hip Hop Kido,” Zack said, “I didn’t know you were interested.”

“Sorry. I said it wrong,” she blushed but he smiled to let her know it was cool, so she continued. “Well, I like dancing so I thought it’d be fun. Did you really come up with it all by yourself?”

Now it was Zack who tried not to blush. “I did, yeah. I studied karate but found it too restrictive, so I thought I could come up with something on my own to make it a little more flexible. Add some rhythm to it, you know?”

“Would you care to teach me some?”

Zack was elated but tried to play it cool. “Def, yeah! Let me get my gear back out of my backpack and we can…” but Zack didn’t a chance to finish. His cellphone beeped with a rather unique ringtone of an incoming text message. His face turned serious quickly and he grabbed his phone to check it. With obvious dejection and quite a bit of stress he apologized to Angela. “Angela, this is an emergency kind of text. I gotta go. I’m sorry, can I make it up to you?”

She was a little dejected, but she could see by his expression that he was being sincere. “Oh, yeah, okay. Let me give you my number.” He handed her his phone and she sent a text message to herself so that she would have his number too then handed it back. “I hope everything is alright.”

“Thanks,” he said, “me too.” Then he ran off, but turned after a few steps and called out, “Promise I’ll call you soon!”

Angela smiled and watched him run to the parking lot.

In the foyer between the two buildings, Audri reappeared where she left from, fully expecting to see her sister panicking at her disappearance. She was ready to start explaining though she wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but to her surprise, Trini wasn’t there. Audri started to panic wondering where she could have gone, who was she talking to, what was she telling them? Then she heard a weak voice from the benches behind her.

“Audri?” It was Trini. She was sitting down rubbing one of her eyes with her fist. “What happened?”

Audri quickly went to her and sat down, placing her arm over her sister’s shoulders. “Are you okay? What do you remember?”

“We were going to watch Jason and Tommy spar,” Trini continued weakly. “I remember walking outside…then there was a flash of light, like lightning or something, then I was sitting here. Where did you go?”

Audri paused for a moment. She did not like having to lie to her sister, but she knew protecting her was much more important. She only hoped that someday Trini would forgive her if she found out. “The flash of light must have been from you running into the door.”

“I did?” Trini said confused and rather skeptical.

“Yeah,” Audri acted. “It was my fault. The door slipped out of my hand and you tripped coming out; smashed your forehead pretty good. I helped you sit down and was going to get an icepack for your head from Ernie.”

“That’s weird.” Trini said doubtfully yet wanting to believe her sister. “My head doesn’t hurt.”

“That’s good,” Audri said with a weak laugh. “It hurt me to see it.” Her sarcasm made Trini smiled. “Do you think you are okay?” Audri asked. “No concussion?”

“No, I’m fine,” Trini said. “Just seeing yellow spots still.”

Audri resisted showing a nervous face and quickly changed the subject. “So, do you still want to watch the boys fight or just go home?”

“We can go watch,” Trini replied. Audri helped her to her feet and they walked to the dojo together.

Kimberly reappeared with one foot on the balance beam and quickly righted herself before she fell, despite her disorientation; she was quite the skilled gymnast. Scanning the room, she noticed a few more people were there now than before, but it didn’t appear that anyone had seen her mysteriously reemerge from thin air. “That was really strange,’ she thought to herself, ‘exhilarating, but strange,’ she admitted. The whole ordeal was quite thrilling and more than a little terrifying. Aliens, space witches, monsters, and superhero suits; it was just a tad overwhelming.

“Hey Kim!” the voice scared her half to death and she nearly fell from the beam. “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” The voice belonged to Aisha Campbell, a fellow student that had recently transferred from Stone Canyon High School at the beginning of the last school year. She was on the gymnastics team there and Kimberly had befriended her early in the year. The girls bonded over their shared interest in gymnastics and Kim was helping Aisha with some more advanced techniques.

“It’s okay,” Kim responded. “I was just really into that routine.”

“Yeah I saw your stuff there but didn’t see you anywhere. I went to put my purse in a locker and when I turned around, ‘poof’ you were on the balance beam,” Aisha laughed.

Kim laughed nervously, “Yeah, I had to take a quick powder break,” she trailed of when she saw Audri and Trini walk past on their way to the dojo. She and Audri locked eyes and shared a knowing look.

“Kim?” Aisha asked when she saw Kimberly staring off.

“Oh sorry,” she said, “Spaced out a second there. Do you want to run through a routine together?”

“That would be great!” Aisha exclaimed.

Behind the curtain in the dojo, Jason teleported back into the room where he left. The first thing he saw, even through his blurred vision, was Tommy sitting on the floor with his elbows on his knees and his head down. “Tommy!” Jason called out and rushed to his side. “Are you okay, man?” he asked as he knelt beside him.

“Man,” Tommy said astonished, “how hard did you hit me?”

“What?” Jason asked confused.

Tommy lifted his head as he spoke. “I remember us squaring off, then a bright light, and then I was on the floor. That must have been some hit cause I don’t even remember seeing it. Good shot, man.” Tommy put a hand on his head and tried to stand. Jason helped him to his feet and to get his balance.

“Yeah, it was a lucky shot,” Jason tried to console him and cover what really happened at the same time. “You must have tripped or something because you walked right into it. Are you alright though?”

Tommy stood up straight and rocked his head back and forth a couple of times. “Yeah, I’m good. You want to go again? I can’t let you get the better of me so easily,” Tommy said with a smile.

Jason laughed, “You sure? I’d hate to knock you out again.”

They both laughed and squared off. When Audri and Trini walked in the room they had just finished a set with Tommy getting a good hit in on Jason. “You let your guard down on your left when you overextended that jab,” Audri heckled as her and Trini approached. “Left yourself wide open.”

“Thanks, Dear,” Jason said sarcastically. Then turning to Tommy, he introduced them. “Tommy this is my girlfriend Audri and her sister Trini.”

Tommy nodded, “Nice to meet you.”

“Billy speaks pretty highly of you,” Trini said. “He tells us that you may have more belts than Jason does.”

“Oh yeah, Billy Cranston?” Tommy asked. “He’s been tutoring me some to help me catch up since we moved so late in the semester. My sister should be helping me but says she doesn’t have the patience to deal with me.” He laughed and so did the others.

“Speaking of Billy,” Jason said looking at his watch. “He just sent me a text. I need to grab my phone real quick. Do you mind Tommy?”

“Not at all, man.” Tommy replied.

“Thanks.” Jason looked at Audri and made a slight movement with his head signaling her to come with him.

“Be back,” she said to Trini and walked off with Jason.

They walked to the other side of the training mat where Jason left his duffle bag. Audri was looking down at her phone while Jason dug his out. “Billy sent me a text too,” she said rather confused, but it’s just an address.”

“It’s the cabin where he and his dad are camping,” Jason said, “and where Zordon told us to meet tomorrow if we are serious about accepting his offer.” Jason found his phone and unlocked it. Then he pulled up the other messages that Billy has sent only to him. “I already responded to that one. These though,” he said and handed the phone to Audri, “are a little more concerning.”

Audri’s eyes widened. “Where did he get these pictures?” she asked.

“Billy setup his equipment at the camp site, remember?” Jason explained. “He wanted better data than what he was getting at home. Something about light pollution.”

“No I mean where did a 16 year old get the equipment to take pictures this clear of an object in space?” Audri clarified.

Jason shrugged. “Same place he gets all of his equipment, I guess. He built it.”

Audri shook off the surprised expression and continued scrolling through the pictures. One in particular made her stop cold. “Is this the space shuttle NASADA sent up? Cut in half?”

Jason just nodded.

“What is this demon looking thing with the wings?”

“I’m assuming one of Rita’s crew,” Jason said. “This is real, Audri, and it looks like people are already dying.”

Audri didn’t know what to say but then she handed his phone back to him. “Zack just sent you a message. He needs help with something. I didn’t see what though. I wasn’t trying to read your texts.”

Jason took his phone and read the text. “It’s cool. You know I don’t hide anything from you, but yeah Zack does needs help with something.” Then Jason gave her a coy smile, “You want to take these new suits out for a spin?”

**A Few Minutes Earlier**

Zack had pulled his car in to an empty parking lot of a rundown gas station in a not too pleasant part of the Angel Grove City Limits. He didn’t have to wait long until there was a knock on the passenger side window. Zack unlocked the door and his cousin Curtis slid into the seat shutting the door behind him. The two shared a special handshake and a heartfelt hug. Curtis was like a brother to Zack and he hadn’t seen him in weeks. He and his family had moved to Angel Grove a few months ago from Seattle in an effort to get him out of trouble and away from the inner-city gang that he had taken to running with. The move didn’t sit well with Curtis and it wasn’t long before he had run away from home and back to his life on the street. Occasionally, Curtis would message Zack letting him know that he was okay, and Zack would tell his aunt and uncle, so they would at least know that their son was alive. It had been weeks though since the last message and Zack was beginning to worry even more about his cousin.

“Where have you been man?” Zack started in on Curtis. “I’ve been way worried about you.”

Curtis fidgeted for minute before answering. Zack could tell that something was bothering him. “Things have been…weird, man,” Curtis tried to explain. “Stuff’s been goin’ on that I don’t like.”

“I’m no stranger to weird, bro,” Zack assured him, especially after the day he’d had. “What is going on? Your message made it out like you are spooked.”

“That’s cuz I am,” Curtis blurted out. “I don’t want to be in this gang anymore, cousin. They are doing some…weird stuff…” he trailed off like he was going to say something else then changed his mind. “Like illegal stuff, I mean. It was fun when it was just a few of us hanging out, doin’ some street art, or listening to music, but now these other guys have come in and taken over. They’re making us run drugs and weapons and weird ancient artifact things. I don’t want none of that. I just wanted some peeps that understood me.”

“Is that why you haven’t called in a few weeks?” Zack asked and Curtis nodded. “So who are the other guys? Where did they come from all of a sudden?”

“None of us know who they are. There are two guys and a woman. All of them dress real funny too like they think they’re ninjas or something. Told us they were from the main set.” Curtis explained.

“Like back in Seattle?”

“Nah, that was an offshoot too, or so they say.”

“Then just leave, man.” Zack pleaded. “Come home. Your mama is worried sick, and you dad checks in with me about everyday asking if I’ve heard from you.”

“It ain’t that simple, man,” Curtis defended. “I can’t just walk out.”

“Why not, because they’re ‘family’? We’re your family, Curtis. I can take you home right now.”

“You don’t get it,” Curtis shouted. “Man, I never should have text you.” He made to get out of the car, but Zack grabbed his arm.

“Talk to me, bro. Don’t just run out again,” Zack said. “Why can’t you just leave the gang?”

Curtis resettled in the seat and rubbed his hands nervously. “These new guys are dangerous, man. I can’t just leave. They’ll come after me, you, and everyone else I care about. They said so. When these new guys showed up saying they were from the main set, they told us that things were going to be different. We weren’t just some silly street gang anymore. If we were going to call ourselves Dai Shi then we had best be supporting the whole clan, not just this one set.”

“So?” Zack asked. “What does that have to do with you going AWOL?” But then he paused, “Wait…clan?”

“Yeah, clan. That’s what they call it now; not a gang but a clan, and I’m not the first one to go against them,” Curtis explained. “When they first showed up and said they were taking over, one of us stood up to them, a guy named Mao. He was like our head guy. Told them that some new guys couldn’t come in and tell us what to do.”

“What happened?” Zack asked.

Curtis hung his head. Zack could see he was fighting back tears. “They killed him, man. Right there. The big guy, Grizz, I think, cause he’s like a bear in size. He just picks Mao up by the neck and breaks it…with one hand. Threw him on the floor like he was nothing.” Curtis was visibly upset, rocking back and forth and sweating. “Then the lead guy tells us that if anyone else has anything to say he would advise them not to. He tells us that this clan was more than family and the only way to leave the clan is how Mao did. We do what he says, or he’ll kill us and everyone we care about.”

“That’s heavy, man,” Zack exclaims. “I guess going to the police is out?”

Curtis slowly nodded his head.

“I’m going to get you out of this,” Zack reassures him.

“How you gonna do that, Cuz?” Curtis challenges. “I shouldn’t even be talking to you right now. They are probably watching me.”

“I’ll think of something.” Zack says.

Curtis shakes his head. “Listen man…I just wanted to see you again…just in case. Tell my mama I love her and I’m sorry.” He opens the car door to leave but stops. “Thanks for always being there, Zack. I’ll text you if I can.” With that, Curtis jumps out of the car and runs off before Zack can stop him, but Zack wasn’t about to let Curtis go on his own. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a ball cap and hoodie from his backseat and raced after Curtis. He knew his cousin would never allow him to tag along so he hung back and tried to follow him unnoticed. There were not many people on the streets in this neighborhood but there were enough that Zack could blend in without looking like he was following his cousin. Several blocks and a few alleyway shortcuts later, Curtis stopped at an abandoned looking, two-story office building. It was rundown and most of the windows were dark, but a few dimly lit rooms could be seen from the street.

Zack hung back at the end of the street leaning against an unlit light post and watched as Curtis walked up the stairs to the front entrance of the building. Suddenly, two figures appeared out of nowhere on either side of the door and blocked the way. It was unnatural how they showed up, like they just materialized from nothing out of the very shadows surrounding the door. Zack brushed it off as the dark playing tricks on his eyes, but what did look real were the automatic rifles the shadowy figures were holding. He could see Curtis make a few hand gestures at them, like some kind of secret hand sign, and the two guards stepped back into the shadows.

“Curtis wasn’t kidding,” Zack said to himself. “Something very weird is going on here, and dangerous.” He ducked back into the nearest alley and tried to think of a plan. As he was weighing the options, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was the text from Billy. “This must be the address of the cabin where we are supposed to meet tomorrow,” he thought aloud, and it was this that gave him an idea. Looking down at his hand and concentrating, he saw the flash of black light and the power morpher materialize. “Good thing I have this alien, space-age, power suit. It was made for those clay soldiers so I’m sure it will make short work of some thug ninja wannabees.” Zack raised up the morpher. “Mastodon,” he said, albeit quietly so as not to draw attention, and very quickly the black power armor grew over his person.

**The Command Center**

Zordon sensed the armor activation through the Morphin Grid. “Alpha,” he called out. “It seems that Zachary has activated his power armor. Can you determine his location and bring up his vital signs?”

“Right away, Zordon!” Alpha chirped and quickly typed a few commands on the control panel in front of her. “Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi! Zordon, Zack is across the street from the building where the Dai Shi clan has setup! What could he be doing there?”

“I believe that Zachary intends to use the power armor to rescue his cousin from what he thinks is just another street gang,” the sage answered.

“Not good, not good!” Alpha panicked. “Should I open a line of communication so we can talk him down?”

“No,” Zordon answered. “Activate the surveillance mode in his armor and pull up his helmet feed in the Viewing Globe. Let’s see what he decides to do.”

“Right away, Zordon,” Alpha said and pressed several keys on the terminal. When she did an orb of light manifested itself a few feet in the air above the center of the circular command ring. As the light in the globe swirled to life it began to focus and soon Alpha and Zordon could see what Zack was looking at in and through his visor. They could also hear him and his surroundings.

“Whoa!,” they heard Zack exclaim. “I don’t remember this thing having a heads up display last time. From his, and their, point of view, Zack could now see on his visor several icons that had not been there previously, and it did not take him long to figure out the way to select them was by moving his eyes across the screen. “This is so cool! Billy is going to trip.” As he moved his eyes from one icon to the next he saw the image in his visor change accordingly and he peered out from the alley toward the building to test each mode. The night vision mode was self explanatory and he could see much better, but switching to thermal imaging allowed him to view inside the structure and he could now see just how many people were there. Another setting allowed him to see the infrastructure of the building almost like an x-ray though more of a wired grid type of view and yet another gave him a summation of all of the previous as well as a breakdown of the number of potential hostiles, what they were armed with, and even all of the accessible entrances and exits of the building. “This is intense,” Zack said out loud, “but I may be in over my head. I should have called Jason before I morphed.” When he said this a new screen activated on his visor that displayed < _To send message to Jason cell begin speaking._ > “Man this suit thinks of everything,” Zack said then dictated a message to Jason.

“I’ve interfaced with the Earth’s cellular network,” Alpha reported. “His message has been sent to Jason’s mobile phone. Should we let him know that we are helping him in case he needs further assistance?”

“Not yet, Alpha,” Zordon said. “I want to see how they progress on their own first. This field test will affect their decision to take on the mantle of Ranger, for better or worse, but it must be a decision made without our influence.”

“Zordon,” Alpha questioned. “Is it wise to let these Rinshi know that there are Power Rangers on Earth? We have been watching them silently for a while now.”

“They would discover soon enough once Rita launches her attack.” Zordon explained. “Besides, the Infinity Dragon needs to know his time on this planet is growing short.”

“Rita is only the beginning of the problems Earth is about to face,” Alpha remarked grimly before a flash from the terminal caught her attention. “I’m reading two more morph signatures, Zordon.”

“Yes,” Zordon confirmed. “It appears that Jason and Audri will be joining Zachary momentarily.”

**Silver Hills**

When Kimberly left the Youth Center she was feeling a little more at ease. Talking to Aisha and working through some intermediate moves had leveled her mind out. Gymnastics had always been calming for her and Aisha’s bubbly personality took Kim’s mind off things. It was unfortunate that the euphoria wouldn’t last once she got home that night.

After parking in the garage, Kim could hear her parents shouting at one another before she even reached the kitchen door. They were fighting…again. It seemed like all they did anymore was fight. Moving out here to Angel Grove was supposed to make things better. Her dad had taken this job because it was supposed to keep him home more instead of traveling all the time. Her parents were hopeful that spending more time together as a family would strengthen their marriage. As it turned out, more time together just meant more things to fight about. Kim was over it and tried to spend as much time out of the house as possible.

She took a deep breath and turned the doorknob slowly in hopes that she could sneak in without being noticed. No such luck. The door hinges creaked and her parents both looked over at her mid scream.

“Where have you been?” her dad shouted.

“Don’t yell at her!” her mom yelled at him.

“Do you see what time it is, Helen?” he asked as he turned his attention back to his wife. “A girl her age has no business being out this late on a school night!”

“I was practicing gymnastics with Aisha at the Youth Center.” Kimberly defended herself. “Same as I have been every night.”

Neither really seemed to hear her though as they were both too busy yelling at each other.

“What are you even talking about, Roger?” Helen continued. “School let out two weeks ago!”

Kimberly sheepishly piped in, “Two days ago actually,” but they paid her no attention.

“That’s because you forced me to let her attend that dreadful public school!” bellowed Roger. “I wanted my daughter to go to a real school and get a first-rate education. Not some participation diploma from an overrated babysitting service full of degenerates. If she was in a private school, she wouldn’t have time to be galivanting around all hours of the night.”

“It’s like, 8:30…” Kim started but was quickly drowned out by the shouting. At this point she really didn’t care anymore. Neither one of her parents were listening to her anyway so she left the kitchen to go upstairs to her room and that is when she noticed the suitcase by the front door. She knew she shouldn’t ask; she knew the answer. Hearing it would just make it real and after this crazy day she didn’t need any new curve balls thrown at her, but it was going to be said regardless, so Kimberly took a deep breath and decided to get it over with.

She could still hear them yelling. “That was sixteen years ago Helen!” How many times do I have to say sorry for that?”

“Dad?” she called out and then there was immediate silence from the kitchen.

A moment later Roger walked into the living room with Helen following close behind. “I guess we need to talk,” he said rather sheepishly.

“I thought moving here meant that you wouldn’t have to travel as much?” Kim started, but she knew the answer that was coming had nothing to do with work.

“Yeah…that was the plan,” Roger stammered. “Listen Kimmy, your mom and I thought that a fresh start would make things better. Maybe me being around more would give us a chance to work through some things. You know, get closer...”

“But all it did was make us fight more,” Helen butted in.

“You’re not going on a business trip, are you?”

Roger hung his head. “No, Kimmy. Your mother and I think it would be best if I left for a bit. Maybe the time apart from each other is what we needed after all.”

Kim could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, but she refused to cry. “How long will you be gone?” When he hesitated, she knew the answer. It didn’t matter what he said so she hugged her father and went upstairs to her room. At least they waited until she was out of sight before they started fighting again.

Falling on her bed, Kim stifled a few tears then pulled out her phone and began looking through her social media feeds. Despite everything, she had finally made some friends at this new school, even though she didn’t spend a lot of time with them thanks to her constant training. She dreamed of competing in the Pan Global Games for gymnastics, but with all the moving around she didn’t have the opportunity to train full time like other hopeful athletes. Now that she was in her late teens, she feared she was too old to be considered. Still, it was one of the very few constants in her life and she enjoyed it immensely.

Scrolling through, she noticed two of her friends, Kristen and Tina, had both posted pictures at a party, a party that she didn’t know about nor had they invited her to. She decided to text Kristen.

_hey gurl, you at a party?_

_oh…  
yeah, whats up?_

_didn’t know there was a party tonight_

_u were busy doin ur dance thing so we didn’t tell u_

Kim wasn’t sure how to take that. Did her friends intentionally bail on her?

_Oh, no prob. Where’s it at and I’ll meet you?  
I could stand a distraction. Parent’s fighting  
again. Bad this time._

_that sux  
um…I don’t think you’ll like this party_

“What did that mean?” Kim thought but it didn’t matter. She just needed a distraction.

_that’s okay. I just need to get out of here_

_you’re not going to want to come here  
we are doin stuff you don’t like_

Now it made sense. They were drinking. Kim had been around alcohol before but, despite everything going on at home, had managed not to succumb to peer pressure. Anything like alcohol or drugs could potentially hurt her gymnastics career and she wasn’t willing to jeopardize that. Tonight though, she just wanted to get out of her house.

_I don’t have to drink. I can just hang_

_Listen K, Tina and I were talking  
ur kinda a buzzkill at these things_

_u know I can’t risk it with my gymnastics  
they drug test at competitions_

_ur dancy thing is more important to u than us. Were tired of being second place_

Kim almost threw her phone against the wall but stopped herself; she set it on her nightstand instead. This day was just too much. First aliens and superheroes, her parents were probably getting a divorce, and now her friends bailed on her because she refused to party by getting drunk or high. Not for the first time, Kimberly felt completely alone. She turned off her lamp, rolled over with her face in her pillow, and cried herself to sleep.


End file.
